Global tech CEOs, Bollywood stars, pop icons and politicians are expected to jet in for the three-day occasion hosted by billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani this weekend.
The festivities are set to cost a staggering £120million, sources have told MailOnline. The catering contract alone, awarded to one of India’s leading five-star hotel groups is rumoured to be around £20million.
Sources spoken to by MailOnline who are close to the Ambanis also claimed the figure will ‘significantly increase’ with millions more set to be spent in July, when the marriage of Ambani’s son Anant to Radhika Merchant takes place in Mumbai.
Rihanna, 36, who is performing at the celebrations, and her partner A$AP Rocky were filmed stepping out in India today. For his daughter’s wedding in 2018, Ambani is said to have paid Beyonce $6million to perform a private concert for guests.
The 66-year-old chairman of oil-to-telecoms giant Reliance Industries, is Asia‘s richest person according to the Forbes real-time billionaires list, worth more than $114 billion.
India’s richest man has kicked off lavish pre-wedding parties for his son by feeding more than 51,000 people in his hometown, with celebrations in the coming days expected to include some of the world’s most influential figures. Pictured, Anant Ambani and bride Radhika Merchant interacting with guests during a community food service
On Wednesday evening, Ambani and wife Nita – along with their son Anant and his fiancee Radhika Merchant – launched a three-day feast for more than 51,000 villagers at the Reliance Township in his hometown of Jamnagar, in India’s western state of Gujarat.
Anant, 28, who also serves as a director on the boards of several Reliance-owned firms, is expected to marry Merchant, 29, the daughter of an industrialist, later this year.
Ambani held the most expensive wedding in India for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost $100million and saw US pop megastar Beyonce perform.
This time, Rihanna, illusionist David Blaine and Bollywood’s Diljit Dosanjh will perform for the guests, who are expected to include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Meta head Mark Zuckerberg, and several current and former political leaders, according to a list released by Reliance.
Also among the invitees is Disney chief Robert Iger, following a deal agreed Wednesday between Reliance Industries and Walt Disney to merge their Indian media businesses.
Other guests invited include Ivanka Trump, the former US president’s daughter, as well as ex-Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and the King of Bhutan.
Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and M.S. Dhoni, and industry titan Gautam Adani are also invited in a who’s-who of India’s super-rich elite.
A source said: ‘No expense has been spared for this three-day party. It is a jaw dropping amount of money but when the Ambanis do something they do it big.
Rihanna, illusionist David Blaine and Bollywood’s Diljit Dosanjh will perform for the guests, who are expected to include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Meta head Mark Zuckerberg, and several current and former political leaders, according to a list released by Reliance
On Wednesday evening, Ambani and wife Nita – along with their son Anant and his fiancee Radhika Merchant (pictured left) – launched a three-day feast for villagers at the Reliance Township in his hometown of Jamnagar, in India’s western state of Gujarat
Anant, 28, who also serves as a director on the boards of several Reliance-owned firms, is expected to marry Merchant, 29, the daughter of an industrialist, later this year
‘The whole of Jamnagar is celebrating because they are all being fed and pampered and treated like celebrities.’
Another source said: ‘This is not the first time that they are spending money like this on one of their children’s weddings.
‘These are going to be a memorable three days with some of India’s and the world’s most famous people present. It’s going to be as lavish as you can get.’
The Ambanis are building a Hindu temple complex in Jamnagar, to keep ‘India’s rich cultural and spiritual identity at the heart of the wedding festivities’, the Reliance Foundation said on social media.
The main celebrations, running from March 1-3, will have different themes, events and dress codes – including a ‘jungle fever’ day with a visit to an animal rescue centre run by Ambani, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.
The couple are hosting 1,000 VIPs who will be housed in specially arranged five-star facilities just outside the city of Jamnagar in the state of Gujrat, western India.
Hundreds of staff will be on hand to look after them with a series of penthouses and villas renovated for the occasion.
More than 100 chefs are also being flown in to cater for them and will prepare 500 dishes over the three days, ranging from traditional India food to Mexican, Chinese and European.
The bride and groom (pictured right) have reportedly hired 21 chefs to feed their 1,000 guests at the lavish event at Anant’s parents’ home in Jamnagar this weekend
Akash Ambani, son of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, arrives to attend the pre-wedding celebrations of his brother Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, daughter of industrialist Viren Merchant, at the airport in Jamnagar
The children of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, Aryan Khan, pictured left, and Suhana Khan, pictured right, leave the airport in a car as they arrive to attend the pre-wedding celebrations
Bride and groom-to-be Anant Ambani (right) with Radhika Merchant at the inauguration of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in March 2023
Bride-to-be Anant Ambani, 29, is the daughter of billionaire Shri Viren Merchant, who is the CEO of private health firm Encore Healthcare.
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The invite for the pre-wedding celebrations – which have been widely circulating on social media – read: ‘With hearts full of joy and excitement, we invite you to the pre-wedding celebrations of Anant and Radhika at our home in Jamnagar.
‘We look forward to having you with us to share in our joy, love, and laughter, and create memories that we’ll cherish forever.’
It would also seem that there is a strict dress code to follow for guests taking part in the lavish wedding warm up.
On the Friday night, the happy couple’s loved ones will enjoy an ‘evening in everland’-themed cocktail party on the premises.
The following day, they have been told to wear ‘comfortable shoes’ to take a ‘walk on the wild side’ by visiting the groom’s Reliance animal rescue centre, which spans 650 acres and homes more than 2,000 animals.
