Chairman, Reliance Group
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani: The Comeback Man
This week in Flashback, a throwback interview with Anil Ambani, who is being seen as a comeback man of 2025. This feature from 2004 was done before the national elections & precedes the split in the Reliance Empire & the parting of ways of the Ambani brothers.
Follow us at:
Twitter - https://x.com/journosanjeev
Instagram - / sanjeevsrivastava275
Facebook - / sanjeev.srivastava.56211
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."
Transcript (21 segments)
S
Sanjep Shast0:12
There's a lot of buzz around defense, Reliance Infrastructure. Reliance. So this may well be a comeback year for Anil Ambani. We really wish him all the best in this endeavor.
Throwback conversation: Indian elections. Remember those elections in which UPA registered a shock victory? So do watch this interview and let us know.
Hello and welcome to this special edition of Asia Today. I am Sanjep Shast in Bombay. As part of our coverage of the Indian elections, we begin a new series today on the modern Indian mogul or the new Maharaja. People who may not be in the government but have a great deal of power and influence. Today we look at Anil Ambani, one of the richest and most powerful men in the country. A youth icon who believes that his business can only become globally competitive if India becomes a force on the world stage.
India works despite its politicians. But for most that means toiling in a hopeless existence. Jagir Singh is a mason who earns less than $2 a day. Hardly enough to feed his family of six. But a proposed power plant across the road has given hope to thousands like him. He told me how the upcoming project could result in permanent jobs for thousands of people, changing their lives forever.
India's new champion of the poor arrived from the heavens. But he's no Mother Teresa. He's a businessman. It's Anil Ambani who is setting up a $2 billion power plant here. For the poor, it means jobs. Something the fawning politicians always promised but failed to deliver. They now expect his investments to translate into votes for them.
From the heat and dust of rural India to the luxury of a private jet. Rich in modern India means rich. This man is worth billions. But his dream is no longer confined to just multiplying money. He wants to be a real global player. Only possible if he takes India with him.
A
Anil Ambani3:04
Because you are no longer chasing profits or assets or sales. I think it's the sense of purpose, the sense of achievement. The creation of world-class businesses is what is the real quest. I think that I'm pretty much focused in on the convergence of everybody towards the ultimate goal. And the ultimate goal for India as a country is to emerge as an economic superpower, which is its rightful place.
S
Sanjep Shast3:44
But does the Ambani vision also include playing a more active role in public life? Maybe even joining politics? He does not rule out the possibility.
A
Anil Ambani3:54
Like in the global arena and the global political theater, it is always the best person for the best job. So I don't think that you need to look at the DNA of an industrialist saying, you know, he's going to do building industry for the next 100 years, or you know, a politician is just going to do that. I think that there is going to be cross-fertilization of ideas, and there is convergence of economics and politics. Undoubtedly.
S
Sanjep Shast4:28
In India's largest city and financial capital, Bombay, nearly half the population lives in shanty towns. People in the city are voting today in an election where 'India Shining' or the newfound prosperity of the country's middle classes has become the central theme. But what about the poor? Can India really shine without them?
A
Anil Ambani4:49
I don't think that India is going to transform overnight. We've always made steady progress, and what we've been seeing recently is somewhat of an acceleration of that steady process. Undoubtedly, the wide disparities between states in India, between different stratas of people, are always a matter of concern. But there is this growing divide worldwide. So it's not an Indian phenomenon. Maybe with our levels of poverty and such a vast population as well as a vast country, they are more visible in that sense. Also, I think being a democratic voice, more things are audible to people, and in some countries things may not really be audible. So I think it's a combination of all that. And India shining, India prospering, India blooming are all adjectives to basically reflect that India is moving ahead. The future of India is very, very bright, and over a period of time, a wider section of the population in India will enjoy the fruits and benefits of what is happening currently. It cannot ever be isolated to 50 million or 20 million people. There is absolutely no way that India as a country can progress in that fashion.
S
Sanjep Shast6:25
The foundation of the Ambani empire was laid by his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, who started his career as a petrol pump attendant. The Reliance Group flourished in the 1970s and 80s when Indian industry largely depended on state patronage. But the nearly 20 billion conglomerate really moved into the big league in the last decade and a half. The same period that the Indian economy opened up to the rest of the world. Educated in American business schools, the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, now think global. The Ambanis were accused of building their empire by staying close to political power. Now India's leaders come to them.
A
Anil Ambani7:11
When you talk about getting anything done or having relationships with people, I don't see anything wrong in trying to convince our point of view. And when people are unsuccessful, then they want to hang their failures on our coattails, which I feel sad about. But that's not going to distract us from making Reliance a strong company.
S
Sanjep Shast7:38
The critics of Reliance say the Ambanis can mold and manipulate the country's power set any which way they like. They can get any doors opened, any work done.
A
Anil Ambani7:50
Now I wish that was true. Ultimately, nothing succeeds like success. So the proof of the pudding is the eating. Performance speaks louder than words. And I don't believe that intrinsically, if we would like to do anything wrong—not that we're going to attempt to do anything wrong—we're going to get a broadway support. But if there is convergence of ideas, views of taking this country forward and making India a strong country, because unless India is a strong country, you're not going to have strong companies like Reliance around. There is no place in a weak economy for weak companies.
S
Sanjep Shast8:27
See the star, the Ambani family literally runs India: power, gas, communications. As the country's largest private sector company, generating 3% of the country's GDP, 5% of the total exports, and 10% of India's corporate profits. As large as we can be in India, Indian companies are still small compared to global enterprises.
A
Anil Ambani8:55
If 50 years plus have gone through independence, you don't even have five companies in the top 500 companies in the world from India. Do you think that we are pygmies in that context? Compared to the size of the market and the opportunity that we have, I think the real catalyst for reforms and acceleration of the Indian economy and integration of India with the global economy has come through 1991. So I really look at, we've been game for India as a country only for the last 15 years. That's the way I look at it. We've not been here for 50 years. So let's not use independence as one milestone. I use the economic reforms that was started by Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in '91 as the turning point of India.
S
Sanjep Shast9:49
The Reliance juggernaut may be seen as too powerful by some, their fingers in too many pies. But the Ambanis continue to be restless. They dream big and their vision is still unfulfilled.
A
Anil Ambani10:04
I think it's really the passion for creation. It's the passion to be world-class. It's the passion to have a handful, if not more, a bagful, if not more, a truckful of Indian companies that are world-beating companies. And I know that in my father's own words, you know, if you can dream it, you can do it. So I think that we have the capacity and the ability to convert our dreams into reality, and that is the story of Reliance.
S
Sanjep Shast10:38
Leading India into the next lap. No excess flab on the country's new leaders as India begins its marathon on the road to prosperity. In a country known for hero-worshipping cricket and Bollywood superstars, it's unusual for an industrialist to become a youth icon. But in a new and resurgent India, the role models have also changed.
This may well be a comeback year for Anil Ambani. All the best to him from our side. Thank you for watching. Namaste.