Wedding party resumes for son of Asia’s richest man

MUMBAI: Lavish wedding celebrations for the son of Asia’s richest man resumed Saturday with a star-studded guest list including Hollywood celebrities, global business leaders and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son Anant and his fiancee Radhika Merchant, both 29, are tying the knot over the weekend in Mumbai following months of pre-marriage parties that have set a new benchmark in matrimonial extravagance.

Saturday’s itinerary included a blessing ceremony during which the world’s rich and famous greeted the couple at the wedding venue, a 16,000-capacity convention centre owned by the Ambani family’s conglomerate.

Footage from inside shared by local broadcasters showed Modi, whose policies have been warmly supported by the groom’s father over his decade in power, was among the guests to pay their respects.

“Best wishes to the new couple and double happiness!” Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong posted on social media platform X along with footage of the couple from inside the venue.

This weekend’s celebrations end Sunday with a reception party, and cap months of extravagant pre-wedding festivities.

While the wedding and its VIP attendees have been the subject of relentless and laudatory media coverage in India, the reaction among the public has been mixed.

“They must have spent over $60 million, while I will struggle to earn just $400 this month,” Mumbai general store worker Jitesh Ingle told AFP.

“But this is our life. What can we do? We can only watch their celebrations on YouTube.”

Anant’s father Mukesh is chairman of Reliance Industries, a family-founded conglomerate that has grown into India’s biggest company by market cap.

The patriarch is the world’s 11th richest person with a fortune of more than $123 billion, according to Forbes, and is no stranger to making a statement when it comes to family marriages.

He held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost $100 million and saw US singer Beyonce perform.

The family’s lucrative interests include retail partnerships with Armani and other luxury brands, more than 40 percent of India’s mobile phone market and an Indian Premier League cricket team.