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Tag: Mukesh Ambani

  • The collective wealth of India’s 100 Richest was flat at $799 billion this year.

    The collective wealth of India’s 100 Richest was flat at $799 billion this year.

    Mumbai: In a dramatic shift in the pecking order at the top, Mukesh Ambani reclaims the number one position on the 2023 Forbes list of India’s 100 Richest. The collective wealth of India’s 100 Richest was flat at $799 billion this year. The complete list is available at www.forbes.com/india and www.forbesindia.com. The list can also be found in the October issue of Forbes Asia and the December issue of Forbes India.  

    India is on a high after hosting the G20 Summit in New Delhi this September and becoming the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. Reflecting this sentiment, India’s stock market has risen to 14 per cent since fortunes were last measured. However, that jump, tempered by a  weaker rupee, was not reflected in the collective net worth of India’s 100 Richest, which flatlined at $799 billion.  

    Mukesh Ambani, who transformed his Reliance Industries into a diversified conglomerate, reclaims the number one spot with a net worth of $92 billion. Shortly after spinning off and listing Jio Financial Services, which has an asset management joint venture with BlackRock, Ambani cemented his succession plan by appointing his three children to Reliance’s board as non-executive directors in August.  

    The fortune of infrastructure magnate Gautam Adani, who rose meteorically to overtake Ambani as India’s richest person for the first time last year, reversed dramatically after a damaging report by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research in January sent his group’s shares tumbling. Despite recovering somewhat since, his net worth, which includes that of his family, fell by a whopping $82 billion to $68 billion – down the most in both dollar and percentage terms – and he slips back into second place.  

    Software tycoon Shiv Nadar climbs two spots to return to No. 3 with a fortune of  $29.3 billion, as shares of HCL Technologies jumped 42 per cent in the past year amid a tech rebound. Matriarch Savitri Jindal, of the O.P. Jindal Group, a power and steel conglomerate, ranks number four with $24 billion, up 46 per cent, thanks partly to the September IPO of ports unit JSW  Infrastructure, by her son Sajjan Jindal. Rounding out the top five is Radhakishan Damani of  Avenue Supermarts, whose fortune declined to $23 billion from $27.6 billion previously.

    Forbes Asia, Asia wealth editor and India editor Naazneen Karmali said: “India is riding high and is considered a hot spot by global investors. That buoyancy has made the elite  club of India’s 100 Richest even more exclusive this year, with the minimum net worth to make  the cutoff rising to a record $2.3 billion.”  

    The biggest percentage gainer this year is Inder Jaisinghani at number 32 with $6.4 billion. His family’s net worth nearly doubled as his wires and cables company, Polycab India,  benefited from increasing electrification. Pharma brothers Ramesh and Rajeev Juneja got a  handsome 64 per cent boost from the May listing of their Mankind Pharma, bringing them to number 29 with $6.9 billion. The Juneja siblings also appear on the cover of the October issue of Forbes Asia.

    There are three new entrants this year: Renuka Jagtiani, chairwoman of Landmark Group, a Dubai-headquartered retailing giant, enters the list at number 44 with $4.8 billion, following the passing of her husband Micky Jagtiani in May. Also new to the list is the Dani family (number 22, $8 billion) of Asian Paints, heirs of patriarch Ashwin Dani, who died in  September. The third newcomer is garment exporter K.P. Ramasamy (number 100, $2.3 billion),  founder and chairman of K.P.R. Mill.  

    Among the seven returnees this year is Ranjan Pai (number 86, $2.75 billion), who cashed out $1 billion from selling part of his stake in hospital chain Manipal Health Enterprises to  Singapore’s Temasek. Notable among the eight drop-offs are ed-tech couple Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath, whose firm Byju’s saw its valuation marked down drastically amid myriad challenges.  

    The top 10 richest in India are:  

    1) Mukesh Ambani; US$92 billion  
    2) Gautam Adani; $68 billion  
    3) Shiv Nadar: $29.3 billion  
    4) Savitri Jindal; $24 billion  
    5) Radhakishan Damani; $23 billion  
    6) Cyrus Poonawalla; $20.7 billion  
    7) Hinduja Family; $20 billion  
    8) Dilip Shanghvi; $19 billion  
    9) Kumar Birla; $17.5 billion  
    10) Shapoor Mistry & Family; $16.9 billion

    This list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and India’s regulatory agencies. The ranking lists family fortunes, including those shared among extended families such as the Bajaj and Godrej families. Public fortunes were calculated based on stock prices and exchange rates as of September 22. Private companies were valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded. The list can also include foreign citizens with business, residential or other ties to the country, or citizens who don’t reside in the country but have significant business or other ties to the country.

  • Jio AirFiber set to be unveiled in September

    Jio AirFiber set to be unveiled in September

    Mumbai: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani revealed in a virtual annual general meeting that Jio will launch Jio AirFiber, its fixed wireless access offering on 19 September. Jio, which has 50 million 5G users, shall have a pan- India coverage by December 2023. It will also be among the first globally to put 6G competencies in place, as per media reports.

    The launch of Jio AirFiber comes on the heels of its rival, Bharti Airtel launching its own device commercially, and is anticipated to swell the former’s addressable market to over 200 million high-paying homes and premises, over the next three years.

    Mukesh also brought out that “providing last-mile connectivity is a painstaking process in most parts of our country,” and that’s where the fixed-wireless broadband offering, Jio AirFiber, would play a role. Additionally, he pointed out that Jio has more than 450 million subscribers, say reports.

    As of now, the pricing of the new offering is under wraps. The new service is expected help the telco multiply its connected premises to 1,50,000 connections per day, which is a 10-fold growth from 15,000 premises a day that optical fibre would allow.

    Mukesh also underlined the in-house developed Jio 5G stack which possesses features like standalone 5G architecture, network slicing, carrier aggregation, and AI/ML capabilities.

    Jio’s 5G customer has reached 50 million since the October 2022 launch, and Jio 5G is already present in over 96 per cent of the census towns of the country.

    Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani also spoke about the telco building a ‘transformative platform’ which will alter the way Indian enterprises, small businesses, and tech start-ups work with the digital world.

    He also announced the Jio True5G Developer Platform – a comprehensive platform combining the 5G network, edge computing, and a spectrum of applications and services.

  • Reliance 46th AGM 2023: Latest updates & announcements

    Reliance 46th AGM 2023: Latest updates & announcements

    Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd. today in its 46th annual general meeting on 28 August 2023, just like in the previous AGMs, investors are anticipating significant revelations during this yearly event. This occasion holds added significance as it marks RIL’s inaugural AGM subsequent to the listing of Jio Financial Services (JFSL) shares on various stock exchanges.

    In latest updates from the AGM, Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani said, ”I represent the beating heart of Reliance, our beacon of empowerment and transformation – the Reliance Foundation. For us, business and philanthropy complement and reinforce each other as both are guided by same spirit of We Care.”

    “From Culture to Climate, Education and Sports to Women’s Empowerment, Healthcare to Livelihoods, Rural Transformation to Disaster Mgmt, we work in 54,000+ villages. We have so far touched lives of ~70 mn Indians,” she added.

    Speaking on accelerating to achieve net carbon zero by 2035, Mukesh Ambani said,” We have embarked transitioning O2C business into a sustainable and green business.” He added, “the key pillars of this transition are – One, we are accelerating our journey to achieve Net Zero by 2035 through renewables and bioenergy”.

    On collaborating with RIL at the AGM, business giant Bill Gates said, “I am delighted Reliance is collaborating with Gates Foundation and my climate organisation, Breakthrough Energy, on some of world’s toughest challenges – climate change, helping unlock economic power for women and improving health outcomes for poor”.

    Talking about Reliance’s cardinal principles, Mukesh Ambani said, “In pursuit of these dreams, RIL has scrupulously adhered to certain cardinal principles of value creation. These have ensured that your company becomes more valuable, year after year, decade after decade”

    The five cardinal principles are:

    1st, Growth driven by perpetual demand

    2nd, driven by superior customer experience and value

    3rd, Growth driven by the power of disruptive innovation

    4th, Growth driven by business discipline

    5th, Growth driven by global market potential

    Here are some more key highlights from the AGM:

    . Over the past decade, Reliance Industries Ltd has made a total investment of $150 billion, marking the largest investment by any Indian company during this period. During the annual general meeting, Ambani mentioned that Reliance has consistently led the way in shaping the landscape of India’s evolving economy.

    . Providing a status report to stakeholders about the latest developments in its new energy division, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, announced during the company’s 46th annual general meeting (AGM) that their immediate focus is on establishing a battery giga factory by the year 2026.

    . Ambani has unveiled an intriguing update – the launch of the Jio Bharat economical smartphone, available at a mere cost of Rs 999. This device is furnished with a variety of functions intended to address a diverse array of user requirements. Users have the opportunity to partake in live TV, seamlessly stream multimedia content, indulge in digital photography, and effortlessly conduct UPI transactions via JioPay.

    . Highlighting the continued attraction of international investors towards its retail enterprise, Mukesh Ambani, announced to shareholders on Monday that the valuation of Reliance Retail has surged to Rs 8.28 lakh crore at present, marking a significant increase from its 2020 valuation of Rs 4.28 lakh crore.

    . He further announced that Jio, the company’s telecommunications division, is set to deploy one million 5G cells by December 2023. This statement was made during Ambani’s speech at the 46th annual general meeting of Reliance Industries.

  • Reliance AGM 2023: Highlights key announcements at the 46th Annual General Meeting

    Reliance AGM 2023: Highlights key announcements at the 46th Annual General Meeting

    Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd. today in its 46th annual general meeting on 28 August 2023, just like in the previous AGMs, investors are anticipating significant revelations during this yearly event. This occasion holds added significance as it marks RIL’s inaugural AGM subsequent to the listing of Jio Financial Services (JFSL) shares on various stock exchanges.

    RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani, made a series of announcements including the company’s plans to roll out 5G services by December 2023, high-profile partnerships with Meta and Google, and the AirFiber service.

    Ambani has announced that Jio AirFiber will be launched on Ganesh Chaturthi. Also Akash Ambani has introduced Jio Smart Home services. Over the past few years, major groundbreaking declarations from the Ambani conglomerate have consistently been unveiled during the RIL AGM. Consequently, this occasion has assumed a pivotal role on Dalal Street.

    Mukesh Ambani said, “Jio Platforms is already providing end-to-end professional and managed services for all businesses of RIL group, including Telecom, Retail, Media, and Fin Services. It is ideally placed to offer these services outside the RIL group.”

    He continued, “For the first time, IPL was streamed free on JioCinema. It created a global record with a staggering 45 cr viewers tuning in. More people watched IPL on digital devices than on linear television, marking a tectonic shift.”

    It is widely anticipated that Mukesh Ambani will present a strategic plan for the financial services sector, building upon the recent $300 million collaborative agreement with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm. This partnership is geared towards establishing a digital-centric approach, with the goal of making investment solutions accessible to a broader range of Indian investors.

    During the announcement of the financial results for the June quarter, Reliance Jio expressed its commitment to achieving a nationwide 5G rollout across India by the end of this year, as reiterated during the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Moreover, shareholders are keen to gain insights into the company’s investment strategies for the present year and the specific areas of concentration for its expansion endeavors.

    Reliance AGM 2023- Key things to look for:

    Plans for Jio Financial

    5G Roadmap

    Reliance Retail IPO

    Reliance Jio IPO

    Renewable energy plans

    Reliance Jio Infocomm IPO

  • Reliance to acquire Metro AG’s Cash & Carry in Rs 4,060 crore deal

    Reliance to acquire Metro AG’s Cash & Carry in Rs 4,060 crore deal

    Mumbai: As per media reports, Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries is all set to take possession of German retailer Metro AG’s Cash & Carry business in India in a deal estimated at around Rs 4,060 crore.

    The report cited that the deal includes 31 land banks, wholesale distribution centres, and other assets owned by Metro Cash & Carry in India. This acquisition will help Reliance Retail expand its presence in the B2B segment.

    “Discussions were on between Reliance Industries and Metro for the past few months, and last week the German parent firm agreed to the offer from the former,” as per a media report.

    Other retailers were also part of the bid to acquire Metro Cash & Carry, including Siam Makro, which runs LOTS Wholesale Solutions (an online wholesale shopping business). Last month, Siam Makro, part of the Charoen Pokphand Group of Thailand, announced its withdrawal from the race for Metro Cash & Carry India.

    For the record, Metro AG operates in 34 countries and stepped foot into the Indian market in 2003. It operates six stores in Bengaluru, four in Hyderabad, two each in Mumbai and Delhi, and one each in Kolkata, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Zirakpur, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Indore, Lucknow, Meerut, Nasik, Ghaziabad, Tumakuru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, and Hubballi.

    Reliance Industries’ subsidiary, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL), is the holding company for all the retail companies under the group. RRVL had reported a consolidated turnover of around two lakh crore rupees for the year ended 31 March 2022.

  • Reliance Jio to roll out 5G services in major cities by Diwali

    Reliance Jio to roll out 5G services in major cities by Diwali

    Mumbai: On Monday, at the 45th annual general meeting, Reliance Industries announced that Jio has prepared an ambitious 5G roll-out plan, which is claimed to be the fastest in the world.

    Using immersive and interactive metaverse technology, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani addressed the shareholders at the AGM and made the announcement.
    The chairman’s statement also said that they have made a total investment of two 2 lakh crore rupees.

    He said, “Within the next two months, by Diwali, we will launch Jio 5G across multiple key cities, including the metropolises of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. Subsequently, we plan to increase the Jio 5G footprint month after month.”

    “By December 2023, which is less than 18 months from today, we will deliver Jio 5G to every town, every taluka, and every tehsil of our country,” he added.

    The company unveiled the AirFiber, a wireless plug-and-play 5G hotspot that does not require fibre cables and provides a personal Wi-Fi hotspot at home or in the office.

    Reliance Jio chairman Akash Ambani said, “Jio 5G is an ultra-high-speed fixed-broadband. Since you get ber-like speeds over the air without any wires, we are calling it JioAirFiber. With JioAirFiber, it will be really easy to quickly connect your home or office to Gigabit-speed Internet. We have developed a JioAirFiber Home Gateway, which is a wireless, simple, single-device solution.”

    Mukesh Ambani further added, “Digital Freedom is the birthright of every Indian. Therefore, 5G cannot remain an exclusive service, available only to the privileged few or only to those in our largest cities. To build our pan-India true 5G network, we have committed.”

    “We are working with Google to develop ultra-affordable 5G smartphones for India. We will also leverage the advanced capabilities of Google Cloud to offer Jio’s private 5G stack and other 5G-enabled solutions to both domestic and global users at scale,” said Akash Ambani.

    Jio has 421 million mobile broadband subscribers on their 4G network, and according to the company, they consume, on average, nearly 20 GB of broadband data every month, nearly doubling their consumption from the year before.

    Jio’s pan-India fibre-optic network is more than 11 lakh kilometres in length.

    “We will use our combined wireless and wireline assets to cover 3.3 million square kilometres, India’s total land mass, with fibre-quality broadband, connecting even those parts of the country where satellite technology was the only option,” said Mukesh Ambani.

    The company has deployed the Made-In-India 5G stack in their network, with sufficient capacity to serve hundreds of millions of users right from day one.

    “Using 5G technology, we can dramatically reduce latency or lag, and deliver breakthrough increases in broadband speed, network capacity, and the number of connected users,”  said Mukesh Ambani.

    According to Reliance Jio, the main objective is to roll out top-quality, highly affordable fixed broadband services to hundreds of millions of locations in a very short period of time.

    Jio believes it could expand broadband availability to further stimulate the adoption of connected intelligent solutions across all walks of life.

    Mukesh Ambani said, “We will connect over 100 million homes with unparalleled digital experiences and smart home solutions. We will catapult tens of millions of small merchants and small businesses to great heights, empowering them with cutting-edge, plug-and-play solutions delivered from the cloud. We will provide millions of medium-sized businesses with the same digital capabilities that were earlier available only to larger companies.”

    “We will accelerate the digital transformation of tens of thousands of our large enterprises and make them globally competitive. And we will launch billions of smart sensors with connected intelligence that will trigger the internet of things and fuel the fourth industrial revolution,” he concluded.

    In FY22. Reliance Industries has continued to make all-around progress across its businesses. The company became India’s first corporate to cross $100 billion in annual revenues. Reliance’s consolidated revenues grew 47 per cent to Rs 7.93 lakh crore. Reliance’s annual consolidated Ebitda crossed a crucial milestone of Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

  • Meta and Jio Platforms team up to launch JioMart on WhatsApp

    Meta and Jio Platforms team up to launch JioMart on WhatsApp

    Mumbai: In a global first, Meta has partnered with Jio Platforms to launch an end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp, where consumers can shop from JioMart right within their WhatsApp chat. JioMart on WhatsApp will enable users in India, including those who have never shopped online before, to seamlessly browse through JioMart’s entire grocery catalogue, add items to their cart, and make the payment to complete the purchase – all without leaving the WhatsApp chat.

    Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post, “Excited to launch our partnership with JioMart in India. This is our first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp—people can now buy groceries from JioMart right in a chat.”

    “Business messaging is an area with real momentum, and chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people and businesses communicate in the years to come,” he added.

    Making the announcement, Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said, “Our vision is to propel India as the world’s leading digital society. When Jio platforms and Meta announced our partnership in 2020, Mark and I shared a vision of bringing more people and businesses online and creating truly innovative solutions that will add convenience to the daily lives of every Indian.”

    “One example of an innovative customer experience that we are proud of developing is the first ever end-to-end shopping experience with JioMart on WhatsApp. The JioMart on WhatsApp experience furthers our commitment to enabling a simple and convenient way of online shopping for millions of Indians,” he further said.

    The launch is part of a strategic partnership between Meta and Jio Platforms to accelerate India’s digital transformation and provide people and businesses of all sizes opportunities to connect in new ways and fuel economic growth in the country, the company said in its statement.

    Consumers can start shopping on JioMart via WhatsApp by simply sending ‘Hi’ to the JioMart number on the networking app, it added.

  • Reliance Jio launched its streaming platform ‘JioGamesWatch’

    Reliance Jio launched its streaming platform ‘JioGamesWatch’

    Mumbai: Mukesh-Ambani-led Reliance Jio has launched its new streaming platform called ‘JioGamesWatch’ recently. It is the one-stop solution for all types of gaming content that the users will enjoy watching. The streaming service will be available on Android, iOS and even Set Top Boxes.

    Similar to Twitch, JioGamesWatch will offer game-streaming to the users in a convenient way. “The platform has set its sights on empowering and enabling creators to go live, with any device, under low Latency, and showcase the best of their content to millions of viewers,” Jio said in a press release.

    Its viewer engagement tools help to stay ahead of competition, such as emotes & audience polls. The app is fruitful for casual gaming enthusiasts, developers and game publishers. It also has amazing online games, esports and tournaments.

  • IAA leadership awards to be presented on 25 July

    IAA leadership awards to be presented on 25 July

    Mumbai: The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) will present its prestigious leadership awards on 25 July in Mumbai. These awards are presented to the leaders of the marketing fraternity who have excelled in their respective fields.

    Committee chair Nandini Dias said, “We are privileged to have a prestigious all-CEO jury panel headed by the indomitable RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka, along with other eminent jury members: INSPACe chairman and Mahindra & Mahindra ex-MD & CEO Pawan Goenka; ITC divisional chief executive – foods Hemant Malik; Titan Company chief executive officer-watches and wearables division Suparna Mitra; PhillipCapital India managing director & CEO Vineet Bhatnagar; Cuemath chief executive officer Vivek Sunder; and Transsion India CEO Arijeet Talapatra.”

    “Over the years, we have come to evolve a streamlined and structured process that takes into account rigorous data points to arrive at the shortlist for each predetermined category. This enables the jury to conduct exhaustive and well-founded deliberations before they arrive at the final winners,” he added.

    IAA president Megha Tata shared, “The Leadership awards are known for the superlative audience they attract. Apart from the marketers, there are also special awards for categories like Business Leader of the Year, IAA Creative Agency Leader of the Year, IAA Media Agency Leader of the Year, IAA Media Game Changer of the Year, IAA Media Person of the Year and IAA TV Anchor of the Year.”

    “One distinguished advertising professional will be inducted into the IAA Hall of Fame that evening. Past recipients of the Business Leader of the Year award who have accepted the award in person include Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Birla, Ajay Piramal, and Nitin Paranjpe, to name a few, she added. One can expect the tallest business leader in the country to personally accept this award on July 25 and address the select audience. This year, a couple of special awards sponsored by IAA Global will also be presented at the event.”

  • Akash Ambani to take over as the chairman of Reliance Jio as Mukesh Ambani steps down

    Akash Ambani to take over as the chairman of Reliance Jio as Mukesh Ambani steps down

    Mumbai: Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, announced on Tuesday that Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani has resigned his position at the company effective from 27 June. Akash Ambani, who is a non-executive director on the board of the company, will take over as the chairman of Indian telecom conglomerate.

    Further, Pankaj Mohan Pawar will take over as the managing director of the company, according to the decisions taken at Jio’s board of directors meeting held on 27 June 2022. The appointment is for a period of five years commencing from 27 June 2022, subject to approval of the shareholders.

    In a regulatory filing, Reliance Jio said the company’s board at a meeting on 27 June, “approved the appointment of Akash M Ambani, non-executive director, as chairman of the board of directors of the company.”

    Among other decisions taken by the company’s board of directors at the meeting held on Monday were appointing Raminder Singh Gujral and KV Chowdary as independent directors of the company for a period of five years commencing from 27 June 2022.

    The board noted the resignation of Mukesh D Ambani as director of the company effective from close of working hours on 27 June, even as it approved the appointment of Akash M Ambani, non-executive director as chairman of the board of directors of the company.