Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani addresses the media

🎥 Jun 11, 2019 📺 ET Now ⏱ 6m 👁 14053 views

Retail shareholding in Reliance Group continues. The group paid debt entirely through asset sales: Anil Ambani. Watch the video ...

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About Anil Ambani

Anil Ambani, chairman of the Reliance Group, has been addressing the company's financial situation and debt reduction efforts. In a February 2020 media conference call, Ambani stated that the Reliance Group had made aggregate debt servicing payments of over ₹35,000 crore in the 14-month period from April 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019, comprising principal repayments of ₹25,000 crore and interest payments of nearly ₹11,000 crore. He said that these payments were made "in the face of insurmountable odds and the most challenging financial environment in the country" and that lenders had provided "zero net additional liquidity or debt to any entity of the Reliance group" during that period. Ambani added that the group was "fully committed to meet all our future debt servicing obligations in a timely manner through further asset monetization plans." Ambani has also commented on the broader telecom sector and the group's defense business. In 2019, he stated that political parties were "misinformed, misdirected and misled by malicious vested interests and corporate rivals" regarding the Rafale fighter jet deal, and said that Reliance's role was limited to offset-related export opportunities for Indian defense manufacturers. In earlier appearances, Ambani discussed the "virtual merger" between Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio through spectrum sharing and trading agreements, and introduced his son Anmol Ambani as a director on the Reliance Capital board, attributing a 40% rise in the company's stock price to an "Anmol effect."

Source: AI-verified profile updated from Anil Ambani's recent appearances. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (2 segments)

Anil Ambani0:00

The Reliance Group's conference call is on. Let's cut across to that. Over rupees 35,000 crores in the past 14-month period from April 1, 2018 till May 31, 2019. I'd like to repeat: the Reliance Group has made aggregate debt servicing payments of over rupees 35,000 crores in the 14-month period from April 1, 2018 till May 31, 2019. These comprise principal repayments of a staggering 25,000 crores and interest payments of nearly 11,000 crores. This amount includes debt servicing payments by Reliance Capital Group, Reliance Power Group, and the Reliance Infra Group and their respective affiliates. These payments have been made in the face of insurmountable odds and the most challenging financial environment businesses in the country. During this entire period, lenders from all categories, whether banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, provident funds, or NBFCs, have provided zero net additional credit or debt to any entity of the Reliance Group. I'd like to repeat that: during this 14-month period, lenders from all categories, whether banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, provident funds, or NBFCs, have provided zero net additional liquidity or credit to any entity of the Reliance Group. To compound matters, the regulatory bodies and courts have not passed any final adjudication orders on claims aggregating to over rupees 30,000 crores that are due for more than 5 to 10 years to our various group companies, especially Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, and their affiliates. These amounts, staggering to over 30,000 crores of various claims, have been inordinately delayed and repeatedly delayed for one reason or the other. The debt servicing payments of the staggering amount of over rupees 35,000 crores have necessarily had to be made almost entirely from asset monetization, despite a liquidity-starved environment and operational cash flows in an operating environment beset by procedural and regulatory hurdles. Despite the continuing total apathy and lack of any support whatsoever from the financial system, which ultimately only significantly hurts the interest of lenders themselves as well as all other stakeholders, Reliance Group has demonstrated its bonafides in no uncertain manner. As stated, we at the Reliance Group are fully committed to meet all our future debt servicing obligations in a timely manner through further asset monetization plans that are already at various stages of implementation. For me, I am personally confident that with the support of all my colleagues in the Reliance Group, the journey that we have undertaken to transform the group to be capital light, with bare minimal debt and higher return on equity, will enhance the value for all our stakeholders. I once again thank you for your time and I look forward to a personal interaction very shortly. Thank you and have a good day.

Reporter4:52

Thank you so much. Well, there you have it. It was Anil Ambani speaking at the conference call that he had organized, which was very keenly being awaited by the street as well. Let me just recap the commentary and the statements offered by him real quick. Retail shareholding in Reliance Group continues. He says that the Reliance Group has made an aggregate debt servicing of over 35,000 crores since April 2018. Banks, mutual funds, insurance, and NBFCs, he says, provided absolutely no further liquidity to the group in the last 14 months. Lastly, another important point: says that Reliance Group has paid debt entirely through asset sale. There was no debt, no liquidity provided at all in any form by any kind of organization, the kinds that I just talked about: banks, mutual funds, NBFCs, etc. So the debt payment has entirely so far been through asset sales. However, in the end, Anil Ambani said he's committed to repaying all the debt in a timely manner via asset monetization. So perhaps that's the route they're going to stick to going forward in order to service their debt as well.