At that time, it was the biggest carnival in the nation-bigger even than the Goa carnival which many of us had revelled in. For less important hacks like us, the staid Hotel President at Cuffe Parade was the hideout while the bigger names were staying in the Taj or the Oberoi. We were all on a junket attending the wedding of Anil Ambani with Tina Munim back in 1991; a time when reality shows on Indian television screens were more fantasies than dreams. Like most journalists, we liberally enjoyed the hospitality of Dhirubhai Ambani even as we talked about how he is using money to 'subvert' the system. And like all journalists, we ceaselessly gossipped about the then legendary Bollywood style love affair between Anil Ambani and Tina Munim. For years, journalists used to lay bets on Anil Ambani being able to convince his father Dhirubhai to accept Tina Munim as the daughter-in-law. Even then, the younger sibling Anil was fondly called the 'rebel' with his penchant for fast cars, parties and glib talk. Back then, not many knew much or talked about the elder brother Mukesh Ambani who seemed to be perpetually busy building some petrochemical thing or other in exotic places like Patalganga and Hazira. But you could not stop talking about the confident, brash, articulate, suave and smart Anil Ambani.
Almost two decades later, all those adjectives remain valid when you want to describe Anil Ambani. Even more relevant, valid and poignant is the 'rebel' tag. In the rarefied world of India Inc where pink papers and business magazines glorify industrialists who, in turn, genuflect in front of netas and babus in North, South and myriad other Blocks of Delhi, Anil Ambani has done the unthinkable. He has actually declared war on the government; or at least a Union Cabinet Minister called Murli Deora who used to be a close personal friend of the late Dhirubhai Ambani and is now one of the top notch leaders of Congress. Sure, you can name entrepreneurs and industrialists by the dozen who are unhappy with decisions taken by the powers that be based in Delhi; sure you can listen to the choicest epithets when everything is off the record. But never before has an industrialist-whose own fortune and future-depend on favourable government decisions so openly lambast that very government and accuse it of clear and present prejudice.
For days together, the 'rebel' entrepreneur and sibling took out front page ads-on behalf of his group shareholders-accusing the Union Ministry of Petroleums & Gas of deliberately enriching Mukesh Ambani's companies at the cost of the exchequer and even public sector units like NTPC which happens to be the largest producer of electricity in the country. This is clearly unprecedented and is still something that lobbyists who hover around Delhi are finding difficult to believe and digest. The ads and the media offensive launched by the younger brother have not even spared some family linen from being aired. The Anil Ambani camp accuses the elder brother and his advisors of damaging the image that the father Dhirubhai Ambani had so painfully created over the decades. The word 'trust' is thrown around as carelessly as Congress and BJP politicians use the word 'loyalty'. And both the camps have roped in as many big guns as possible from various political parties to bolster their case. Just think about it: The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has interests in financial services, power, infrastructure and telecom–all sectors in which the State still exercises enormous amounts of discretionary power. So what has made the suave rebel take such a risk? What if an infuriated government decides that Anil Ambani has to be taught a lesson when the time comes in the near future to dole out 3G licenses in the telecom sector? What if the Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who is a fellow Congressman of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, decides that the multi-billion dollar power plants that the ADAG is planning to implement are best left on paper? What if other Congressmen decide that it is best not to funnel any infrastructure projects towards ADAG? Where will that leave Anil Ambani and the eight million shareholders whom he claims to represent?
Almost two decades later, all those adjectives remain valid when you want to describe Anil Ambani. Even more relevant, valid and poignant is the 'rebel' tag. In the rarefied world of India Inc where pink papers and business magazines glorify industrialists who, in turn, genuflect in front of netas and babus in North, South and myriad other Blocks of Delhi, Anil Ambani has done the unthinkable. He has actually declared war on the government; or at least a Union Cabinet Minister called Murli Deora who used to be a close personal friend of the late Dhirubhai Ambani and is now one of the top notch leaders of Congress. Sure, you can name entrepreneurs and industrialists by the dozen who are unhappy with decisions taken by the powers that be based in Delhi; sure you can listen to the choicest epithets when everything is off the record. But never before has an industrialist-whose own fortune and future-depend on favourable government decisions so openly lambast that very government and accuse it of clear and present prejudice.
For days together, the 'rebel' entrepreneur and sibling took out front page ads-on behalf of his group shareholders-accusing the Union Ministry of Petroleums & Gas of deliberately enriching Mukesh Ambani's companies at the cost of the exchequer and even public sector units like NTPC which happens to be the largest producer of electricity in the country. This is clearly unprecedented and is still something that lobbyists who hover around Delhi are finding difficult to believe and digest. The ads and the media offensive launched by the younger brother have not even spared some family linen from being aired. The Anil Ambani camp accuses the elder brother and his advisors of damaging the image that the father Dhirubhai Ambani had so painfully created over the decades. The word 'trust' is thrown around as carelessly as Congress and BJP politicians use the word 'loyalty'. And both the camps have roped in as many big guns as possible from various political parties to bolster their case. Just think about it: The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has interests in financial services, power, infrastructure and telecom–all sectors in which the State still exercises enormous amounts of discretionary power. So what has made the suave rebel take such a risk? What if an infuriated government decides that Anil Ambani has to be taught a lesson when the time comes in the near future to dole out 3G licenses in the telecom sector? What if the Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who is a fellow Congressman of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, decides that the multi-billion dollar power plants that the ADAG is planning to implement are best left on paper? What if other Congressmen decide that it is best not to funnel any infrastructure projects towards ADAG? Where will that leave Anil Ambani and the eight million shareholders whom he claims to represent?
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
