Animals are sacred to us: Anant Ambani on his ambitious project Vantara in Jamnagar

The year 2024 seems to be a promising year for the youngest son of Reliance Industries Chairman- Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani- who is the Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Anant Ambani. Ahead of his pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar, which will be held between March 1 to 3, Anant Ambani spoke about his most passionate project Vantara at a press conference in Gujarat's Jamnagar.

Spread across 3000 acres within Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex's Green Belt, Vantara is an ambitious project helmed by Anant Ambani-- who is the Director at Reliance Industries. Vantara, which means star of the forest, aims at focussing on the rescue, treatment, rehabilitation, and care of injured or abused animals.

Talking about the initiative and what inspired him to set up Vantara, Anant Ambani said at a press conference today, "I have been taking care of animals ever since my childhood days because my parents told me that those who help the voiceless animals get immensely blessed in return... Even in our Hindu religion, it is said that Shri Ram helped and took care of Jatayu. Shri Ram also took care of a small squirrel and it too blessed him in return."

Anant further shared that in Hinduism every deity has an animal that is close to them, and the concept of their vahana. He also said that he sees God with animals. "Mata Rani sits on a lion, Goddess Laxmi likes owls, Saraswati's Vahan is a peacock... For Shri Krishna, it is often said-- hathi, ghoda, palki, jai kanhaiya lal ki! In Hindu dharma it is also said that animals are sacred to us and they represent Gods and Goddesses," he said.

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN-News18’s Anand Narasimhan, Anant revealed that they have over 200 rescued elephants from all across India at Vantara, where they are being taken care of by over 300-400 professionals. They also have 50-60 endangered species kept at Vantara.

"Yes, that we've been rescued. From various backgrounds, like circuses, road accidents, animal-human conflicts, from zoos that are overcrowded. We have rescued animals from all across, from hunting lodges in South Africa and from other places. So while we were rescuing them, I thought that we needed a state-of-the-art hospital. We need a state-of-the-art facility. I don’t want to keep them in cages. I want to keep them in their natural habitat... We have mimicked the natural habitat to the T, to the best of my ability. And my team is more important than me. There’s a trust, and the trust runs it. So the team has created a wildlife sanctuary, and each enclosure has its biodiversity, from the plants to the water body to even the rocks. The logs are originally from where the animals came from. Our focus is that India should not have any wild animals suffering in captivity, or any wild animals should not go without being treated," Anant told CNN-News18.

Talking about his vision for Vantara, Anant further said in the interview, "My vision is that at Vantara in Jamnagar, we would like to be the world’s most advanced wildlife institute and we would also like to conserve and breed critically endangered species so we can release them back in the habitat. Because a lot of species, even today, as we speak, are going extinct."

Vantara is a not-for-profit endeavour that is said to house over 10,000 people at its rescue center. It is being run under the leadership of Anant Ambani, who is all set to tie the knot with Radhika Merchant on July 12, 2024. Meanwhile, their three-day pre-wedding celebrations will be held at Jamnagar in March. As per reports, some business and tech elites from across the world including Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, among other will attend the pre-wedding celebrations. Bollywood stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and others are also expected to be at the celebrations in Jamnagar.