He left Patna with a tiffin box and no money — After 9 failed businesses and a battle with depression, he became Bihar’s RICHEST man with Rs 35,000 crore net worth

When a 19-year-old boy from Patna boarded a train to Mumbai with little more than a steel tiffin box, a rolled-up bedding, and stubborn hope, the odds were stacked firmly against him. He had no influential surname, no financial safety net, and no polished education to fall back on. What he did have was an almost unreasonable belief that life could be negotiated through hard work. That boy was Anil Agarwal, who would go on to build Vedanta Group, a global natural resources empire and become Bihar’s wealthiest individual with an estimated net worth of Rs 35,000 crore, as per Forbes rankings (July 2025).

Agarwal’s story is compelling not because it sparkles with overnight success, but because it drags itself through repeated failure, emotional collapse, and financial uncertainty — and still finds the courage to begin again. According to the Hurun India Rich List 2025, he ranks 16th nationally and fourth among global non-resident Indian wealth creators. It is a staggering position for someone who once had to drop out of school due to financial constraints.

Nine Failures, One Unshakeable Belief

Before Vedanta became a name synonymous with metals, mining and energy, Agarwal’s early entrepreneurial years in Mumbai were brutally unforgiving. He tried his hand at nine different ventures — all of which failed. Each failure not just exhausted his savings, but also dented his confidence, and pushed him closer to giving up.

In candid interviews and on LinkedIn, he has shared openly about struggling with depression during this period. Yet, instead of viewing failure as a verdict, he treated it as a classroom. The learnings were harsh but invaluable: Understand cash flows intimately, control costs ruthlessly, and never let panic dictate decisions. He founded Vedanta in 1976.

Trivia: The word “Vedanta” is derived from Sanskrit and it translates to “the culmination of knowledge."

Scrap Metal Beginnings And The Making Of A Metals Mogul

Agarwal’s first real footing came from the unglamorous world of scrap metal trading in the 1970s. While others dismissed it as non-profitable work, Agarwal used the opportunity to understand industrial demand cycles and commodity pricing.

He worked hard and established Sterlite Industries in 1986. He started with jelly-filled power cables. The step proved transformative and by 1993, Sterlite commissioned India’s first private-sector copper smelter and refinery. The deal disrupted a sector long dominated by public enterprises.

The early 2000s marked Vedanta’s most interesting phase. The group acquired a controlling stake in Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) in 2001. That was not all, this move was followed by a majority stake in Hindustan Zinc Limited. These moves were controversial, closely scrutinised, and fiercely debated — but they worked.

Within years, Vedanta had reshaped India’s non-ferrous metals landscape. Zinc, aluminium, copper and silver operations scaled rapidly, pushing India towards greater self-reliance in critical resources. At present, Vedanta’s interests span oil and gas, nickel, semiconductors, iron ore, steel, power, and display glass manufacturing.

From Patna To Piccadilly: A Global Indian Industrialist

Now based in the United Kingdom, Agarwal frequently references his roots in Patna — often crediting his early struggles for shaping his risk appetite and resilience.

The ripple effect of his success is visible back home. Bihar, long absent from India’s wealth maps, has steadily increased its presence on rich lists.

The Philanthropist Behind The Billionaire

Beyond balance sheets, profits, ROI, and acquisitions, he has managed to carve out a reputation as one of India’s most committed philanthropists. Agarwal has pledged 75 per cent of his personal wealth to charitable causes and is a signatory of The Giving Pledge.

His flagship social initiative, Nand Ghar, modernises Anganwadi centres across rural India, focusing on child nutrition, women’s skill development and digital education. He also invests heavily in grassroots sports and youth mentorship programmes, often stressing that talent exists everywhere — opportunity does not.

As Agarwal frequently says, humility and fearlessness are not opposites but partners.

Little-Known Facts About Anil Agarwal

A Journey That Refuses To Be Forgotten

Anil Agarwal’s life does not read like a fairytale; it reads like a survival manual. From a modest Patna household to boardrooms in London, from repeated business failures to a Rs 35,000 crore empire, his story is anchored in persistence rather than privilege. It is proof that success is rarely about a single breakthrough moment. More often, it is about staying in the game long enough for effort to compound — quietly, relentlessly, and eventually, unmistakably.