Gautam Adani wants to cement his grip on India’s heavy industry

is a man of few words but, as Asia’s richest tycoon, plenty of means. On May 15th he agreed to pay $10.5bn for Ambuja Cement, India’s second-biggest cement-maker, controlled by Holcim, a Swiss building-materials behemoth. Mr Adani’s terse statement accompanying the deal belies its significance. It will be the largest outright acquisition of an Indian company since Walmart, an American supermarket titan, purchased Flipkart, an Indian e-merchant, in 2018.Ambuja was founded by Narotam Sekhsaria, a Bombay cotton trader with a degree in chemical engineering but no background in cement. He managed to turn a commodity into a consumer product through a clever slogan (“giant strength”) and an eye-catching logo (a giant clutching a building). After courting Ambuja for years, Holcim succeeded only in 2005-07, as Mr Sekhsaria’s health began to fail.