Behind every fortune is a long struggle.
They learn to avoid uncertainly.
And this makes them capacity builders.
Not capability developers.
Mr Adani, half of Ambani and all of Tatas.
Three Indian giants. Three very different ethical fabrics. Ethics in business isn’t about press releases or ESG scores. It is about walking the fine line between the legal and the practical.
It’s about how power is exercised when no one is watching. Here’s a grounded comparison of the three.
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Tata Group: Values-First Ethics
Tata’s ethics are constitutional.
Tata behaves as if it must earn moral permission to operate.
➡️ Ethics as institutional DNA. This is their glorious past.
Now the model is to chase subsidy and tenders. There hasn’t been one technological breakthrough in the last fifty years. Not one major piece of innovation. Businesses are floundering, teams are divergent, cultural diversity has been forsaken and it is not if but when it will all come to an end. But the group has a glorious past. Change the leadership and it may spring to life.
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Half of Reliance (Ambani): Rule-Based, Outcome-Driven Ethics. Reliance’s ethics are legalistic and system-oriented.
Reliance asks: Is it legal, scalable, and beneficial at national level?
If yes, it proceeds decisively.
➡️ Ethics as compliance plus economic impact. This is past continuous.
Now the model is to think, not like an engineer but like an accountant. Half the group which had the finance, defence and power companies is dead. And in-fighting led to the rise of Adani. But that apart, this group has solid strengths in executing projects with scale. One family control makes it easier and non-scaleable. To be fair, this half of Ambani makes India proud. They import crude and export petroleum products (!!!???), they run old world retail (in a digital age) and run a telco network as if it is a contributory dinner for big tech. But they do a pretty good job of it all. And the stock market loves them.
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Adani Group: Strategic Ethics Under Pressure. Adani’s ethics are state-aligned and execution-driven
Adani asks: Does the country need this built now? Reputational cost is treated as a variable.
➡️ Ethics as national utility under stress
This is the past. Now the Adanis have started speaking in public. And Mr Adani speaks sense with confidence. He was the Chief Guest at the 75th foundation day of the IIT System. Chosen in preference to their alumnus Sundar Pichai who has lost all credibility when he refused to defend India when Trump attacked. Research and engineering are un-necessary in their scheme of things. The govt loves them and that is all that seems to matter. The mantle of super environment manager rests squarely on their shoulders.
Of the three:
– the Tatas ride on old glory
– half of Ambani rides on scale
– Adani rides on execution prowess.
None are perfect.
None of them will help India win in ai.
None of them are even trying to win.
Startups are India’s only hope.
