All flights are leading to the coastal city of Jamnagar, as global CEOs, heads of states, Bollywood and sports stars, singers, pop artists as well as industry leaders began arriving to be part of the three-day pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani, younger son of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani, and fiancee Radhika Merchant, the daughter of Encore Healthcare CEO Viren Merchant, beginning Friday.
The guest list of around 2,000 included King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and wife Jetsun Pema of Bhutan who arrived on Thursday, besides popstar Rihanna who landed in an Airbus, and is expected to perform at the event.
The other guests include Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, former US president Donald Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump, Hilton and Hyland Chairman Richard Hilton and former Bolivia president George Quirogaare.
The global CEOs include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Saudi Aramco chairperson Yasir Al Rumayyan, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company CEO and MD Sultan Al Jaber, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink, American scientist Dr Richard Klausner, besides cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who is expected with his family.
From the Indian industry, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, Aditya Birla group’s Kumar Mangalam Birla and the Godrej family are expected.
Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani have organised a series of events as pre-wedding celebrations at RIL township in Moti Khavdi village in Jamnagar between March 1 and 3. The wedding is likely to be organised in June-July, a source said.
“The pre-wedding festivities will include music, dance, carnival, visual artistry, a special surprise performance as well as an experience of the nature conservation organised over the last few decades at Jamnagar, an experience of the animal rescue and rehabilitation work being carried out under Anant’s leadership and the traditional Hastaakshar (signing) ceremony at Jamnagar Township Temple complex,” a source added.
While singers Rihanna, Arijit Singh, Ajay-Atul and Diljit Dosanjh as well as illusionist David Blaine will perform during the celebrations, the guest list also includes actors Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Kajol, Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor, among others.
Jamnagar Airport Director Dhananjay Kumar Singh told The Indian Express, “Jamnagar airport has been permitted to handle international flights from February 26 to March 6 following a special request due to an event at Reliance complex. Accordingly, the government has set up CIQ (customs, immigration and quarantine) facilities at the airport to handle international flights.”
“Accordingly, the first international flight landed at Jamnagar airport on February 26. In three days, we have handled approximately 10 international flights, including six on Thursday,” he added.
“On Wednesday, we handled 22 non-scheduled flights… on Thursday, the figure was 25… Normally, we handle three scheduled flights every day. However, since February 23, our airport is handling flights round-the-clock. In all, we are likely to handle around 150 non-scheduled flights and around 90 per cent of them will be international flights,” said Singh.
The airport is using six parking bays to park the arriving aircraft. “The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has sent six staff members to Jamnagar on deputation to handle the increased air traffic. Ground-handling agencies have deployed around 100 additional staffers… We have also engaged 30 additional staffers for housekeeping jobs… 25 to 30 additional personnel from the Gujarat Police are helping with security and law and order aspects,” Singh said.
Sources said RIL had requested AAI to convert Jamnagar airport into an international airport to facilitate the movement of guests.
The RIL refinery complex and township are located around 30 km away from Jamnagar city. As part of the celebrations, the Ambanis and the Merchants had hosted a banquet for people residing in villages surrounding the RIL complex on Wednesday.
The RIL refinery in Moti Khavdi village is India’s largest single-location oil refinery. The RIL has also developed Vantara, a rescue and rehabilitation centre for wild animals, as well as a rescue and rehabilitation centre for elephants under the aegis of Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust. It is also in the process of developing a mega zoo in Jamnagar.
