In a rare public admission, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, in an interview to CNBC TV 18, has said that there are ‘‘ownership issues’’ with his younger brother and vice-chairman Anil Ambani.The two brothers control the Rs 99,000-crore Reliance group, the country’s largest private sector entity. Speaking on the sidelines of a lecture by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Tuesday night, Mukesh Ambani said: ‘‘Well, there are issues, which are ownership issues. These are in the private domain, but as far as Reliance is concerned, it is a very, very strong professional company.” When contacted by The Indian Express, Anil Ambani’s office in Mumbai said he wasn’t in. And a Reliance spokesperson declined to comment. The stockmarket, which shares a special relationship with Reliance courtesy its founder, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, didn’t seem too bothered about Mukesh Ambani’s remarks. The Reliance stock remained virtually flat through the day gaining 0.31%, closing the day at Rs 545.55 at the BSE. In the interview, Mukesh Ambani also said Reliance has grown beyond one, two or three individuals. Citing an example, he said that like GE has moved beyond the company’s founder Jack Welch, Reliance has also moved beyond one, two or three individuals. Currently, the promoters own close to 46 per cent stake in the group flagship Reliance Industries. As the company alone has a market cap of Rs 76,000 crore, the promoters’ holding is worth nearly Rs 35,000 crore. Mukesh, 47, is two years older than Anil, 45, and was seen as a clear successor when Dhirubhai Ambani passed away in July 2002. Over the past two years, Mukesh has been driving the crucial petrochemicals business and, more recently, telecom. Anil has been looking after the energy business, led by power utility Reliance Energy Ltd (formerly BSES). Reliance Industries posted a turnover of Rs 74,418 crore and a net profit of Rs 5,160 crore for the year ended March 2004.
