Day after, Anil ‘walking the talk’

He refused to withdraw his complaints on corporate governance.

‘‘If you are watching TV, I am just walking the talk,’’ proclaimed Anil in a no-holds-barred news conference held at his Ballard Estate office in Mumbai. It was a vintage performance, with Anil criss-crossing the dais and answering questions patiently.

The new holding company would be listed on the market ‘‘if necessary’’ after the demerger of Reliance Industries’ stakes in Anil companies. However, Anil refused to give details about demerger plans. ‘‘I would not like to comment on family affairs,’’ was his cryptic reply when asked about the cash package he got from elder brother Mukesh Ambani.

Anil — who received the telecom, power and financial services businesses in the settlement announced on Saturday — said ADA Enterprises would use the Reliance brandname and logo without any restrictions. ‘‘There’s no bar on using the name and logo,’’ he said.

Kicking off his plans, the board of Reliance Energy today proposed a Rs 1,000-crore preferential offer of equity shares and/or equity-related securities to ADA Enterprises and long-term institutional investors. The preferential offer of equity shares will be made at a minimum price of Rs 573 or higher in accordance with Sebi guidelines, Ambani announced.

The board of Reliance Capital — which will have a Rs 2,000-crore preferential offer at the rate of Rs 228, a premium of 40 per cent to six month average was also recast with Anil’s bete noire Anand Jain and Chairman D N Chaturvedi exiting. While Anil is the Chairman of the company, S S Thakur and R Chitale were taken in as Directors in RCL.

Outlining the plans for RCL, Anil said the company will aim at becoming one of the top three among India’s financial services companies and become a financial powerhouse offering banking services, as when permitted by the Reserve Bank of India and Government.

Anil thanked his mother at the beginning of the news conference — which started with distribution of Tirupati prasad among journalists. ‘‘I am now looking forward to the next five years instead of my 25 years spent in Reliance Industries. It’s a new beginning for me,’’ he said, adding, ‘‘I parted with Mukesh on a cordial note.’’

Though Anil did not comment on Reliance Infocomm, he said ‘‘within days’’ he will announce plans for the telecom company. The Reliance Infocomm board is at present headed by elder brother Mukesh. ‘‘Please do not switch off your mobiles…or I may lose some revenue,’’ Anil said in a lighter vein just before the conference started.

The complaints made to the Department of Company Affairs and Sebi will not be withdrawn. ‘‘I believe it’s a one-way street. The ball is in the Government’s court,’’ Anil said. ‘‘Corporate governance issues are under the consideration of various authorities and it is for them to make a statement. I have done my fiduciary duties and it is for them to decide,’’ he added.

On the contentious issue of IPCL share sale by Reliance Capital at par with some other group companies that may have caused a loss of Rs 1,000 crore, Anil said the issue was taken up today by the new board and ‘‘we will be writing to Reliance Industries and await their communication.’’

Describing Reliance Infocomm as a company having great potential, Anil said it had done an outstanding job in infrastructure creation and providing service to customers to become India’s leading mobile service provider.