Billionaire bash: India's lavish Ambani nuptials

Billionaire Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani celebrates the lavish finale of his son's wedding this week, highlighting his staggering wealth, as well as India's rapid economic growth and stark financial inequalities.

Ambani's younger son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant, both 29, are set to marry in a three-day Hindu ceremony in India's financial capital Mumbai starting Friday.

Asia's richest man is no stranger to throwing a costly wedding.

He held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost up to $100 million and saw US singer Beyonce perform.

This week's opulent celebrations are set to raise the bar, with celebrities, politicians and business elite jetting into the monsoon-hit megacity of Mumbai.

Pre-wedding parties for his son included multi-day galas, a European cruise for 1,200 guests, a specially built Hindu temple and entertainment provided by pop stars ranging from Rihanna to Justin Bieber.

Power

Ambani, 67, the chairman of Reliance Industries, has a fortune of more than $123 billion, and is the 11th wealthiest person in the world, according to the Forbes billionaires list.

He is a key ally of India's right-wing Hindu nationalist leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ambani inherited a thriving industrial enterprise spanning oil, gas and petrochemicals.

He grew it into a commercial behemoth with lucrative interests in retail, telecommunications and an Indian Premier League cricket team.

Ambani's family home Antilia is one of Mumbai's most prominent landmarks. The 27-floor building reportedly cost more than $1 billion to erect and has a permanent staff of 600 servants.

Merchant is the daughter of pharmaceutical moguls.

Cruise and zoo
 
Wedding celebrations began in March with a three-day gala for 1,500-plus guests in Gujarat state.

Rihanna performed her first concert since last year's Super Bowl for wedding guests including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and ex-US president Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka.

David Blaine did magic tricks.

Festivities also involved a trip to the Ambani's "animal rescue centre" housing exotic animals, and a specially built Hindu temple complex.

A second leg in June was a four-day Mediterranean cruise with 1,200 guests, Merchant told Vogue.

Singer Katy Perry performed at a masquerade ball at a French chateau in Cannes, while the Backstreet Boys and US rapper Pitbull also provided entertainment.

DJ David Guetta played at a toga party at sea.

The cruise ended in Italy's Portofino, where tenor Andrea Bocelli serenaded the party in the town square.

Gowns

The wedding invitation was an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple.

Merchant's multiple dresses have been as elaborate.

They have included custom designs from Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and a vintage Yves Saint Laurent for Dior, she told Vogue.

Another was a sweeping chiffon dress printed with a love letter from her fiancee, the magazine reported.

"I want to be able to show it to my kids and grandkids, and say that 'this is what our love was'", Merchant said.

Poverty

India is the fastest-growing major economy, and the world's fifth largest.

But despite massive advances, the world's most populous country has a jobs crisis to match.

National per capita income is just $1,174, according to government data.

India was ranked 111 of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index report last year, a peer-reviewed measure calculated by European aid agencies.

One percent of India's 1.4 billion people earn more than a fifth of its wealth, according to the World Inequality Lab, an income share "among the very highest" in the world -- greater than South Africa, Brazil or the United
States.

Perhaps to preempt criticism, Ambani provided a feast for 50,000 people in his hometown of Jamnagar in Gujarat during the first round of parties.

Ambani also organised a mass wedding for 52 "underprivileged" couples near Mumbai, promising to support "hundreds more such weddings" across India.