Billionaire and Vedanta Limited chairman Anil Agarwal on Wednesday night posted a heartfelt tribute for his son Agnivesh, who died at 49 due to a "sudden cardiac arrest".
This comes after Agnivesh suffered a skiing accident in the US, and had been recovering well at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
"But fate had other plans," he lamented, calling December 7 the "darkest day of my life", and adding that "no words can describe the pain of a parent who must bid goodbye to his child".
The mining firm accordingly suffered a sharp fall in shares on Thursday. It had dropped by 3 per cent as the stock opened lower from its previous close of Rs 622.20 on the NSE—and a sharp dip from a 52-week high of Rs 629.90 on Tuesday.
Still, Vedanta's stock has seen a jump of about 21 per cent, ahead of its ongoing demerger plan and strategic corporate actions.
The demerger plan would split the conglomerate into five independent, listed firms—Vedanta Ltd, Vedanta Aluminium, Vedanta Oil & Gas (Malco Energy), Vedanta Power (Talwandi Sabo) and Vedanta Steel & Ferrous.
"The depth of your grief is evident in this touching tribute. Praying that you and your family find continued strength and courage," PM Narendra Modi wrote on X, condoling the death.
Born into a middle-class family in Patna, Agnivesh studied at Ajmer's Mayo College, going on to open his own company, Fujairah Gold FZC, which operates a precious metal refinery and a continuous cast copper rod plant in the United Arab Emirates.
Apart from Fujairah Gold, Anil explained that his son also became the chairman of Hindustan Zinc, one of India's largest producers of zinc, lead, silver and cadmium.
"To me, he was not just my son. He was my friend. My pride. My world," Anil said.
In that regard, Anil also mentioned a promise he had made to his late son—that more than 75 per cent of his earnings would be given back to society—and renewed his promise.
"We shared a dream to ensure that no child sleeps hungry, no child is denied education, every woman stands on her own feet, and every young Indian has meaningful work ... Today, I renew that promise and resolve to live an even simpler life," he noted.