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What a US$600 million wedding says about India’s attitude to wealth
The Ambani nuptials enticed everyone, from Justin Bieber and Shah Rukh Khan to John Kerry.
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The Economist
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When Beyonce performed at a pre-wedding party for Ms Isha Ambani in 2018, India was agog. Merely receiving an invitation conferred bragging rights on status-obsessed business leaders and politicians. The cost of the nuptials, with countless ancillary events, was said to be in excess of US$100 million (S$134 million).
That is a staggering sum for almost anyone – but not the Ambani family, which owns a controlling interest in Reliance Industries, the country’s most valuable company, dominating everything from telecommunications to oil refining. Despite some anti-rich finger-wagging, many Indians appear to have viewed the event, which even the maharajas of yore would envy, as evidence that India – and Indian business – could once again glitter.
