What Next For Anil Ambani?

From being one of India’s star businessmen to a defaulter facing a jail term, Anil Ambani’s business debacle is a textbook case of unbridled ambition and risky business ventures gone wrong. Where does he go from here?

- M.G. Arun

Circa 2005. Hundreds of journalists gathered at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) tech park at Kopar Khairne in Navi Mumbai on a Sunday, at the behest of the media relations cell of Anil Ambani, the younger scion of the Reliance empire. No one seemed to mind that they had been called in for a press conference on a Sunday. After all, both Anil and elder brother Mukesh Ambani had had several such meet-ups over issues that ultimately led them to split the family business. Finally, Anil seemed to have got what he wanted—the new-age telecom business, along with the financial services and energy business, which held a lot more promise than the bread-and-butter petrochemicals operations, which formed the core of the group; this went to Mukesh. That day, Anil, an avid marathoner, then in his mid-40s, was brimming with confidence as he laid down his plans in telecom. He looked like a go-getter, ready to tap into the potential of the Indian mobile telecom revolution and, along with it, take the fortunes of his group—ADAG or the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group as it was then known—to great heights.