Deepti (or Dipti) Salgaonkar grew up as the youngest child of parents – Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani (father) and Kokilaben (mother), in India’s richest family. She grew up along with her two brothers Mukesh and Anil and other sister Nina Kothari.
Married Life :
Deepti met their family friend Dattaraj (Raj) Salgaonkar in 1978 & they married 5 years later on 31st December 1983. A Saraswat Brahmin by caste, Raj is the owner & MD of the Salgaocar Group of Companies.
The Salgaocar family is originally from Saligao, in North Goa & owns a number of businesses there – Power generation, Hoteling, Mining & many more!
How they Met…
The story of how they met was quite interesting – The Salgaonkars lived on the 14th Floor & the Ambanis lived on the 22nd in the Usha Kiran building in Mumbai. Back then, it was the city’s only skyscraper & only super-rich families could afford a place there!
Raj’s father Vasudev passed away in 1984 & Deepti’s father Dhirubhai became like his surrogate father, guide & friend. Even Deepti’s brothers – Future billionaires Mukesh & Anil were around the same age group & became Raj’s close friends.
In 1984, Deepti and her husband moved from Mumbai to Goa where she raised her family. The couple has two children – Isheta Salgaonkar & Vikram Salgaonkar.
In December 2016, Isheta got married to Neeshal Modi, PNB fraud jeweller Nirav Modi’s youngest brother.
The Salgaocar family continues to live in the luxurious villa Hira Vihar, which is also the Salgaocar family home. They also have another house near the beach in Dona Paula.
Despite moving from the bustling metropolis of Mumbai to the relative quietness of Goa, Deepti adopted the Goan ways and culture quite easily. Quite a good cook, she excels in a variety of cusines – Gujarati, Lebanese, Saraswat and Italian. According to her hubby Raj, her food tastes exactly like his mother’s cooking.
The couple also enjoyed taking trips together to wildlife sanctuaries & other exotic destinations and often threw amazing parties at their house.
Net Worth & Professional Life :
Now with her children grown up Deepti has become more active in community outreach & activities.
Deepti has worked alongside her husband in his project to develop the Sunparanta Goa Centre for the arts.
She is interested in the educational side of things & sits on the board of a school in Goa. She is Vice Chariperson of a non-profit education based arts initiative as well.