The difference between those who wait for clarity and those who build through volatility. FY 2025-26 was one such year. The world grew more fractured. The difference between those who wait for clarity and those who build through volatility became ever more stark.
Because what we have always been defined by is not the intensity of the challenge but the clarity of our purpose, not the criticisms but the nation building we intensely believe in. Just one example of this belief was the ₹25,000 crore rights issue earlier this year. This was more than a capital event. I saw it as a referendum on our credibility. It was one of the largest rights issues in the history of India Inc. And your response was very clear. At a time when some tried to create doubt, you answered with conviction. You responded with participation, and you gave us the mandate to help keep building India.
True to this spirit of nation building, the theme of my address this year focuses on accelerating infrastructure and leveraging intelligence. These are no longer two separate priorities. They are the twin global engines that must shape India's strength, secure India's sovereignty, and accelerate India's journey to becoming one of the defining powers of this century. The first engine, infrastructure, is the roads, ports, airports, transmission lines, power plants, renewable parks, gas networks, logistics platforms, cement capacity, water systems, and our industrial ecosystems that make national growth possible. The second engine, intelligence, is data centers, the use of AI, automation, predictive systems, digital platforms, real-time analytics, and machine-led decision support to make every one of these assets more responsive. Infrastructure gives a nation muscle. Intelligence gives a nation mastery. Today, the two are inseparable.
We are now one of the very few global companies that are not reacting to the future but are prepared for it. The fact is that we have been positioning for this day for years. We saw early that the world was entering a new era, one where geopolitical fault lines would deepen, supply chains would fragment, and energy security would return as a strategic priority. We saw that the race for technological leadership and sovereignty would be constrained not by ambition but by infrastructure. Allow me to elaborate.
Our strength lies in the way our infrastructure pieces connect, from mining and power to transmission and distribution, to ports and logistics, to data centers and fulfillment centers, to roads and water. We have the ability to connect every critical layer of infrastructure that is needed to power the age of intelligence.
Let me begin with a few numbers that capture the scale of what we are building. In FY 2025-26, we made a record capital investment of more than ₹1.5 lakh crore in hard infrastructure. To put that in perspective, this represented over 30% of India's total new private sector capital expenditure of the year. For us, this is more than a financial number. It is a statement of belief. There can be no stronger testimony to our commitment to nation building than the scale at which we continue to invest in the infrastructure that will power India's next chapter.
Let me shift to a few tangible examples of what we delivered over the past year. At Adani Energy Solutions, our transmission order book rose to ₹72,000 crore. We secured several major projects, including the Kawada South Pole Pad HVDC line, reinforcing our position as India's only private sector player with proven HVDC capability. At Adani Power, we are implementing India's largest ever private sector power CAPEX program of over ₹2 lakh crore, with a target of reaching 45 GW of capacity over the next five years.
We are also honored to be partnering with the Government of Bhutan's Druk Green Power Corporation. As part of this partnership, the Adani Group and DGPC will jointly develop 5,000 MW of hydro projects in Bhutan. Our entry into nuclear energy through Adani Atomic Energy is another confident step toward securing India's long-term energy future. With land identified and a 10 GW targeted capacity by 2035, we are positioning ourselves early to serve the growing national demand for clean, round-the-clock power.
At Adani Total Gas, we accelerated and crossed the significant milestone of over 1.1 million piped natural gas home connections. Given the current geopolitical situation, we are further ramping up our PNG projects to meet India's rising demand for more accessible gas.
Coming to connectivity and logistics, Adani Ports handled over 500 million tons of cargo in FY 2025-26, setting an unmatched benchmark for the nation and creating a clear pathway to 1 billion tons by 2030. Our integrated network of ports, SEZs, logistics assets, and expanding maritime services places us in a unique position to keep gaining market share while lowering the cost and complexity of India's trade. I am proud to say that Vizhinjam, one of the most strategic ports on the global maritime route, delivered a record first year by crossing 1 million TEUs. This is the fastest pace ever achieved by any Indian port and a strong signal of India's arrival on the global transshipment map.
In airports, we achieved two defining milestones with the opening of Navi Mumbai International Airport and the new integrated terminal building at Guwahati Airport, both inaugurated by our honorable Prime Minister. Earlier this year, both these airports made it to the list of the world's seven most beautiful airports. The commencement of operations at Navi Mumbai Airport in December 2025 marked a proud moment in India's aviation landscape, with a 90 million passenger capacity airport built in a world record time of just over four years.
In digital and industrial infrastructure, our data center business is firmly on the path to building a 3 GW platform by 2030. The binding MOU for a gigawatt-scale data center with Google in Visakhapatnam reflects both the scale of digital demand ahead and the confidence that global technology leaders like Google, Microsoft, Uber, and Flipkart are placing on us.
Across our mining services business, four new MDO agreements brought capacity to a record 145 million tons per annum, further consolidating our position as India's largest private miner and helping secure critical resource flow for the broader industrial economy. At Adani Cement, we contributed to iconic national projects ranging from the Chenab railway bridge to Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Umiya Dham foundations in Ahmedabad. Over the past year, our cement platform expanded significantly, with total capacity increasing to 110 million tons per annum.
In defense and aerospace, our ambitions became even bolder. Our partnerships with Leonardo and Embraer are helping lay the foundation for integrated helicopter and regional aircraft manufacturing ecosystems in India. We are building a national aerospace platform that spans manufacturing, MRO, services, and pilot training. I am also privileged to say that during Operation Sindoor, our drones, anti-drone systems, missiles, and ammunition supported our armed forces when it mattered most.
Now, coming to our financial performance, FY 2025-26 was another year of disciplined growth and strong execution for your group. Our consolidated portfolio revenue stood at ₹2.92 lakh crore, reflecting year-on-year growth of 7.4%. EBITDA reached ₹94,834 crore, with the net debt to EBITDA ratio at a healthy 3.3 times, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our operating businesses. Profit after tax also rose by 13.9% to ₹46,376 crore, while our cash flow stood at ₹67,900 crore and 95 lakhs. These record numbers give us the financial strength, liquidity, and capacity to fund our ambitious CAPEX plans and continue building at unmatched scale across India's core infrastructure sectors.
Let me speak about the three foundational steps we are taking to build the organization that will execute our vision over the next decade. First, we are simplifying the way we work. We are putting in place a three-layer structure across both our headquarters and our sites to reduce bureaucracy, sharpen accountability, and bring decisions closer to execution. Every role, every process, and every layer must add value. Non-core activities will move either to our GCCs or to nominated partners.
Second, we are changing the way we work with our contractors. We see them as long-term partners in nation building. We will build deeper, more stable partnerships where their growth is supported, their margins are protected, and their interests are aligned with ours to help us deliver projects with greater speed, quality, and ownership.
Third, and most importantly, we are placing worker dignity at the heart of our transformation. Across our own and contracted workforce of nearly 400,000 people, almost 85% are people who work on the ground at our sites. They are the ones who turn our plans into reality. We are committed to ensuring that every worker is treated with dignity. This means clean living conditions, hygienic food, access to medical support, safe working environments, and fair wages paid on time.
This belief does not stop at the boundary of our businesses. It extends into the communities we serve, the families we touch, and the futures we help shape. That is why, alongside the growth of our enterprise, the Adani Foundation remains central to our purpose. The Foundation currently reaches about 10 million people across 7,000 villages in 22 states. As it enters its landmark 30th year, the Foundation is deepening its mission with unprecedented scale and conviction under the able leadership of Dr. Priti Adani.
In healthcare, we are building one of India's most ambitious rural vision care model ecosystems in Bihar, combining all aspects of affordable eye care. Through the Adani University of Higher Education and Research and the Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhuj, we are also creating centers of excellence in affordable healthcare education and delivery. Alongside this, Adani Health City marks another defining step in our healthcare journey, with integrated health campuses coming up in Ahmedabad and Mumbai to bring together thousand-bed multi-specialty hospitals, medical colleges, transitional care, and research facilities.
Coming to skill development, we are skilling more than 120,000 youth across rural India, turning aspiration into employability and employability into dignity. This year, we moved from training as an activity to training as an industrialized capability, delivering tens of thousands of training hours and strengthening workforce readiness. In Kutch, Gujarat, our adoption of ITIs under the Karma Utsav initiative is creating a powerful local employment engine, reducing talent migration.
When I look at our journey, I see one integrated purpose: to build infrastructure that powers India and to build institutions that ensure human dignity at every level of society. This is the spirit with which we now step into the future. Allow me to end with some words of gratitude.
To our shareholders, thank you for your trust, your patience, and your resilience. You have stood by us not only in moments of achievement but also through periods of intense scrutiny. Your faith is our strength. To every Adaniyan, you are the heartbeat of this enterprise. Every port we operate, every airport we run, every transmission line we build, every data center we imagine, every road, mine, warehouse, power plant, and project we deliver carries your discipline, your courage, and your pride.
To our partners, lenders, and communities, we are humbled by the trust you place in us. Scale is never built alone. It is built through collaboration and a shared belief that India's rise is larger than any one institution. To our families, you carry the burden behind our public achievements. You give us the strength to stay grounded and the emotional foundation to keep building.
And to India, we remain deeply grateful for the privilege of serving a nation whose greatest chapters are still being written and whose most defining pages are yet to come. As this India takes shape, allow me to say this, not in the language of business but in the language of our nation: Har ek mein sapna, har dhadkan mein vishwas, Bharat ki har subah rache naya itihas. Sapno ki yeh punji, sankalpon ka yeh saal. We are remembered for what we built. We built when it was hardest to build. We believed when it was hardest to believe. And we proved that resilience is a way of life for us. The future will demand more ambition, more discipline, and more execution than ever before. But together, we stand ready. Ready to build. Ready to serve. And ready to help shape the India whose greatest days lie ahead. Thank you. Jai Hind.
President Levin, promoters, mariners, trustees, senior class presidents. Thank you for the invitation to address you today. And to the distinguished class of 2026, congratulations.
I must warn you all, this is only the second commencement speech I've ever given. The first was literally in my backyard. It was the spring of 2020, right in the middle of COVID and lockdowns. We were filming a YouTube commencement for the graduates who couldn't have their own celebrations like this one. When I look back on it, I see a time of great anxiety. I see the empty space where there should have been an audience. I see the haircut I gave myself right before filming. In fact, I really wish I could unsee it. Today, what I see in front of me is how graduation should be: graduates celebrating together with the people you love who have supported you on your journey. Your parents, relatives, friends, professors, and everyone who helped you reach this milestone. Let's give them another round of applause. They deserve it.
I know not everyone you care about could be here. Many of you came from other parts of the country and the world, as I did. It's not always possible for families to travel. In fact, this is the first time my mom and dad are attending a graduation ceremony I'm a part of. So, let me say a special thanks to them and to my entire family here with me.
I know today is about giving you all advice, but people have also been giving me a lot of advice on what to say. Actually, it's been the same advice, and it's about what not to say. People thought it would be really difficult for me. It's the last two letters of my last name after all. In all honesty, the topic is truly immaterial to what I want to share with you. The most timeless advice I've learned is technology agnostic. It's about you, the life you want to build for yourself, and the choices that help you pursue that life.
Some of you know what you're pursuing already. Congratulations. Enjoy closing down the Rosen Crown now. It gets tougher with a day job. Many of you may have absolutely no clue. That's okay, too. I remember feeling uncertain on graduation day. The sense that life was a series of really big moments and the pressure I felt to get them all exactly right. This is especially true for a group of high achievers who have sweated every grade, every paper, every exam, who have focused on having the right mix of activities, athletics, internships, and now your first jobs. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: while these things matter in the moment, they are much less consequential than you might think. You could have failed that biology test, skipped a class, never learned to play the tuba, and you'd still probably be here today.
Let me tell a story of how I started to learn this for myself. When I was a student here, I had a classmate named Pat. He was from Long Beach, had an earring in one ear, which I thought was really edgy at the time, and a white two-door Honda Prelude convertible. One Wednesday morning in January, my first winter quarter, we were on our way to class. He said, 'Do you want to go to Vegas instead?' I'd never skipped a class, definitely never taken a road trip before. In fact, this is the first time my parents are hearing of it. And yet, I said, 'Sure.' So we went back to our dorm rooms, grabbed some things, and set off.
You have to cut through the mountains to get there. As we drove through them, it started to snow. I'd never seen snow before. I stuck my hand out to grab it. I couldn't believe the softness of the flurries. Pat stopped the car so I could get out. It was really beautiful, a moment I'll never forget. Nine hours from when we set out, we arrived in Vegas with the night lights on the horizon. I didn't know what to think. Pat taught me how to play blackjack. I started with $5 and managed to win about $15 more, and I was like, 'I'm out.' We didn't have enough money to stay long, so the next day we started the drive back. No one seemed to notice we had missed class. For the first time, I realized the world won't end if I relaxed a little.
You're going to face a lot of moments in your life. Only a few of them are really important and you need to get them right. Picking a partner, choosing whether to start a family, a bigger career pivot. Those decisions require time and intention. However, you will face many more moments that only seem really big, thousands of them in fact, and very few of them are make or break. Your first job out of college, the city you move to next, whether to take that road trip. While those moments add texture to your journey, they rarely determine the course of your life. But if you're able to filter the signal through the noise, you can nudge your life in these moments into having the impact you want.
Today I want to share three simple filters I've applied to my own life, three filters that have helped me get more moments right than wrong and took some of the pressure off. First, choose optimism. This might not ring true to you at this moment. The world is going through a lot: global conflicts, economic anxiety, a rewiring of technology, information overload all at a fast pace. It's easy to look at the news of the day and think we are living in uniquely challenging times. For me, it's helpful to remember that each generation has faced hardship in their own way. We don't get to choose the world we graduate into, but we do get to choose how we frame our circumstances.
This was something my parents instilled in me at a young age. I grew up in the vibrant city of Chennai, India. It was a comfortable life for the most part, but in those early years we had some challenges. We worried about severe drought and whether the water trucks would arrive in time. For us, technology came slowly. We had to wait years to get a telephone, a TV, a refrigerator. Each changed our lives in meaningful ways. My parents never let the constraints limit my imagination of what was possible. It's the reason I even let myself dream I could one day work in a faraway place called Silicon Valley.
When the call from Stanford came, my father spent the equivalent of a year's salary to buy my ticket. It was my first time on a plane. When I landed in California, it wasn't exactly as I'd imagined. I remember that first drive down 280 coming from the airport with my host family. If you're not from here, California is advertised as being really lush and green. But when I looked out the window, it was more brown. I guess I said this out loud. I'm not sure why. My host, Mrs. Jane Earl, gently corrected me. 'We prefer to call it golden,' she said. That's exactly what I mean by choosing optimism. It's about reframing for the positive. Where I saw brown, she saw golden. This slight change of perspective had a huge ripple effect on how I thought about the world around me.
Lush forestry wasn't all that was misadvertised, if I'm being honest. The ocean looks warm and inviting on the brochure. A Stanford professor even emailed me before I accepted and used the beautiful beaches as a selling point. So, the first time I went to the beach in Santa Cruz, I ran fully into the water. It was not warm. I've since learned that the Atlantic can be warmer, which by the way is the only reason Stanford joining the ACC makes any sense at all. Despite the brown hills and the cold ocean, it seemed like almost everyone I encountered had a generally positive outlook on life. Maybe it's because you can wear shorts all year, I don't know. I found myself adopting this California optimism. And it helped me navigate one of my bigger pivots during my time at Stanford.
I came here fully intending to get my PhD and move into academics. Life had other plans and I needed to get a job sooner. So I left my doctorate program, and Stanford was generous to offer me the chance to fulfill the requirements for a master's. I could have seen it as the end of a dream, but thanks to Mrs. Earl, I was able to see that particular brown hill as golden. In that moment, I chose optimism.
The second filter is to gravitate toward working on hard things. I'd love to tell you I was an immediate success after leaving Stanford. I wasn't. Even a decade later, I felt like I wasn't on the right path. It took me a while to find my footing.
