Meet Radhakishan Damani, The Only Billionaire Who Has Got Richer Amid the Lockdown

New Delhi: While industrialists and businessmen across India are facing the brunt of coronavirus lockdown and reeling under heavy losses, there is one billionaire unscathed by the whole storm. Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Avenue Supermarts Ltd, is the only Indian billionaire to get richer as his net worth surged by over 10% or $1.04 billion to $10.7 billion in this year so far. Also Read – Mukesh Ambani’s Wealth Falls 28%, Not Among Top 10 Richest Anymore: Report

The shares of Avenue Supermarts Ltd have also increased by 18% this year. It is Damani’s Avenue Supermarts Ltd that owns and operates the one-stop supermarket chain DMart, which is known offering the best retail price across products.

Meanwhile, all the other 12 Indian billionaires in the index including India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani have lost money this year due to Covid-19 outbreak.

That he indeed profited a lot this year, can be derived from the fact that Damani contributed Rs 100 crore to the PM-CARES Fund for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

How did it happen?

Well, all the credit goes to people who indulged in panic buying and stocked a lot of stuff ahead of the anticipated lockdown.

“People have been buying in panic and hoarding during the lockdown that drove the sales, making the company’s share a perfect hedge amid rout,” Arun Kejriwal, director at Kris, an investment advisory firm in Mumbai told HT.

As per analysts, Avenue Supermart’s strategy to keep its cost low and following an ownership model has paid off. The company is known to negotiate hard with vendors by keeping fewer product options for grocery items and spends negligible amount on advertising.

Experts believe that the Avenue Supermarts’ D-Mart stores will be in good stead even after the panic hoarding for staples cools down once the lockdown ends.