Multi-billion dollar spectacle: Inside the Ambani-Merchant wedding

Elephants adorned with jewels, performances by Rihanna and Bollywood stars, over 5,000 drones in the sky, and the construction of a glass palace are just a few elements of the pre-wedding ceremonies in India for Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, which started on 1st March. The wedding of the son of Asia's richest man and his bride commenced on Friday. The local airport had to be expanded for the guests.

The ceremonies' bombastic style and extravagant generosity are stirring widespread emotions. For some, it is a wedding entirely typical for India, where the celebration is an opportunity to demonstrate social status. For others, it symbolises Narendra Modi's India, rife with oligarchs, corruption, and political influence. Still, for others, it offers a glimpse into the country's socially and economically stratified society.

The groom is 29 years old. He is the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of the energy company Reliance Industries, the wealthiest man in Asia according to Forbes, and the ninth richest in the world. His wealth is estimated at €108 billion. Anant Ambani works at his father's firm in Mumbai. He likes to help wild animals; a private wildlife sanctuary was established at his initiative.

The bride is his peer. She is the daughter of Encore Healthcare's CEO and vice-chairman, a company specialising in healthcare and drug manufacturing. Radhika Merchant works in the family business, graduated in New York, and completed a course in classical Indian dance.

Their love story began in 2017. They met in a car they were travelling in with friends. "That first meeting just sparked something special between us, and it wasn’t long before we started dating," Merchant said in an interview with Vogue. In 2023, Ambani proposed to his chosen one. It was a moment when media worldwide announced the commencement of preparations for one of the most lavish weddings on the planet.

The pre-wedding celebrations began on 1st March with a reception in Jamnagar in the province of Gujarat, in western India. A glass palace was built for the occasion, and the couple's love story was presented in the sky by 5,500 drones.

Among the thousand guests were Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, current and former prime ministers of Canada, Sweden, and Qatar, Ivanka Trump, the king and queen of Bhutan, and the biggest Bollywood stars. Rihanna performed before the guests. Over 2,000 dishes were served, and the dress code information was a ten-page booklet.

At the turn of May and June, the couple organised a second pre-wedding celebration on a cruise ship sailing from Palermo, Italy, through Portofino to Cannes, France. There was a masquerade ball and performances by Backstreet Boys and Katy Perry.

The wedding began on Friday and lasted for three days. It is shrouded in mystery. According to local media, the guest list includes former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, the Kardashian family, Adele, Lana Del Rey, and David Beckham. The Ambani family has not confirmed the guest list. It is only known that the wedding will take place in Mumbai, and its date was set based on the couple’s birth horoscope to ensure a long and happy life for the newlyweds.

It’s difficult to imagine the Ambani-Merchant wedding event in an India that isn’t ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," stated Sonia Faleiro, a New York Times commentator. In her opinion, the decade-long-serving prime minister has never been as closely associated with big business. This fosters wealth concentration and the creation of oligarch networks.

In 2017, Modi introduced a fundraising mechanism called election bonds, which allows unlimited donations to political parties. Thanks to this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he leads, collected €595 million through bonds over the next five years. This is 5.5 times more than the Indian National Congress (INC), the opposition party.

In a journalistic investigation, three independent Indian editorial offices revealed that Qwik Supply Chains purchased election bonds worth €48 million in March. One of the directors was someone associated with the subsidiaries of the groom's father's company, Mukesh Ambani. The Supreme Court of India annulled the election bond mechanism, deeming it unconstitutional, but the decision did not affect the results of this year's parliamentary elections.

Ambani also invested heavily in the Indian media. He owns over 70 newsrooms, creating a news channel that reaches 800 million weekly viewers. Thanks to him, Modi's image dominated the pre-election landscape. According to Asia's richest man, Modi is "the most successful prime minister in India's history."

As noted by the NYT commentator, the prime minister was not present at the pre-wedding ceremonies, likely to avoid accusations of cronyism during the spring election campaign. However, his influence was apparent. Young Ambani declared that Jamnagar's choice for the pre-wedding ceremonies was a response to the slogan "Weddings in India," through which Modi called on Indians to get married in their homeland rather than abroad.

The city is home to Ambani's world-leading oil refinery. The local airport was expanded with state funds to accommodate guests from around the world.

The concentration of wealth in India has never been more visible. According to Oxfam, over 40% of the country's wealth, including natural resources and land, is in the hands of the richest people in India, estimated to be about 1% of the population. At the same time, India has the largest number of poor people, approximately 229 million. Oxfam describes India as a country where "the richest will survive."