The Anil Ambani group company is in advanced talks with France Telecom for a branding, marketing and franchisee agreement. The company plans to launch the brand by the second quarter of FY09, according to sources close to the development. Initially, the Orange may be launched on RCom's CDMA network -- spanning across 23,000 towns and 5 lakh villages in India -- and later extended to its 8 GSM circles. The Indian company has a total of 44.5 million subscribers in India.
Mukesh Ambani gave a fascinating account of how the company, which will soon account for around 40 per cent of the country's oil & gas production, can change the energy landscape of the country. It can also potentially lead to a new gas-based economy, he said. Terming natural gas as the 21st century fuel, Ambani said India now has the opportunity to leapfrog the use of clean energy and directly benefit the people.
Anil Ambani group's Reliance Entertainment and DreamWorks SKG of acclaimed director Steven Spielberg have completed the much-talked about deal for jointly making Hollywood films.
The petroleum ministry is mulling filing a defamation suit against an Anil Ambani Group firm for persisting with 'false claims' pertaining to government revenues from Reliance Industries KG-D6 fields.
The 'turbulent situation' at Newcastle United has forced Reliance Communications to shift focus to English Premier League side Everton, media reports said in London on Sunday.
Defence Ministry says the report is being verified, maintaining that neither Indian nor French government had any say in the decision.
Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd on Friday decided to offer stake worth up to Rs 4500 crore (Rs 45 billion) to international financial and strategic investors.
Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani on Friday expressed hope that the Indian industry and the government will work as partners to seize the opportunity to create largescale infrastructure across all sectors in the country.
Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications on Monday said its consolidated net profit rose by 11.91 per cent to Rs 6,044.93 crore (Rs 60.44 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2009, over the same period last year.
Mukesh and Anil Ambani, known for their bitter battle ever since they parted ways in 2005, will once again come together under the same roof tomorrow on the occasion of the 75th birthday of mother Kokilaben, triggering a speculation of a possible rapprochement between the two.
Given the incredibly high stakes involved, the Comptroller and Auditor General and Central Vigilance Commission should examine relevant facts and find out if capex was overstated, Anil said, pointing that budgeted expenditure of RIL for peak production of 40 mmscmd was only Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) in 2004.
Reliance Infratel, the tower business arm of the group's telecom entity Reliance Communications, has allowed the regulatory approval to lapse without coming out with an IPO and is unlikely to revive the process soon. A company spokesperson did not take queries on lapse of the approval period and on whether the company was looking to revive the process by filing a fresh draft IPO prospectus with market regulator Sebi.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is open to have partners for its insurance and mutual fund businesses, its chairman Anil Ambani said on Friday.
Reliance Industries will not "scale down" production from Krishna Godavari basin to accommodate RNRL's future needs, nor would it renegotiate the government-approved price of the gas, the Bombay High Court was told on Thursday.
According to sources, the government has provided a list of 20 companies to Reliance Industries for sale of gas as per the gas utilisation policy. Some of these companies include Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals, Tata Fertilizers and Oswal Chemicals & Fertilizers among others.
Firming up its plans to rollout 3G services in the country, Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications (RCom) is planning to overlay a 3G infrastructure on its nationwide GSM network.
Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources Ltd is laying claim (through a family agreement prior to the group's split) to gas from estranged brother Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd at a fixed price of $2.34 per mBtu
Five companies, including NTPC, Reliance Power, Lanco Infratech, Jindal Power and Sterlite Energy, of the 11 pre-qualified bidders, were in the fray for the project. The financial and technical bids for the coal-based thermal power project were invited on December 29 and the final financial bids were to be opened within 15 days.
After the controversy over pricing of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin, the Ambani brothers are locked in another court battle.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday said the inclusion of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital as one of the managers of Employees Provident Fund was an indication of the 'cost' the United Progressive Alliance paid for ensuring support for the government.
Last month, the ADAG firm announced that it had bought back 250 FCCBs worth $100,000 each, aggregating about Rs 121.22 crore (Rs 1.21 billion). The bonds were bought back at a discount of 52.5 per cent over the issue price. In two tranches, RCom has bought back FCCBs aggregating to about Rs 170 crore (Rs 1.7 billion).
Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has sought to lift the sty as it claims it's ready to produce gas next month. Arguing before the court against vacation of the stay, RNRL senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi said, "There is no immediate supply of gas. Let the directorate general of hydrocarbons make a statement when the company is ready to produce the gas."
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Friday said it may sell gas from its KG-D6 fields to RNRL at $4.20 per mmBtu if the government allocates fuel to the Anil Ambani Group firm.
Relaince Energy received the shareholders approval for raising funds through issue of securities.
Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay high court judgement that asked it to supply gas to Anil Ambani Group's firm RNRL at a price of $2.34 per mmbtu.
In the revised financial bids, Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Power had emerged as the lowest tariff bidder last month vis--vis other power majors such as Lanco Infratech and National Thermal Power Corporation. Official sources said the government might go for re-bidding to bring down the quoted tariff, which is observed to be on the higher side. The ETF will meet on July 19 to take a final view.
It has also got the Reserve Bank's nod to set up a non-banking finance company subsidiary for its consumer loan business, which would primarily focus on vehicle loans and lending to SMEs. Both HFC and consumer finance subsidiaries would be in place in the next two months, and the employees currently working with the related businesses at Reliance Consumer Finance Ltd would be relocated to the new entities.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd is taking the Bombay High Court order of June 15 on gas supply to Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources Ltd to the Supreme Court."We have been advised to and are filing appropriate proceedings in the Supreme Court against the judgment delivered by the Bombay High Court," it told RNRL in a mail, in reply to an earlier letter sent in the day by the former, demanding that the HC judgement be implemented without more delay.
A top management team of Anil Ambani group firm RNRL got stood up by Reliance Industries officials, who neither responded nor turned up for a proposed meeting to follow up the Bombay high court order on gas supply.
The division bench of Justices J N Patel and K K Tated would continue to hear the case, though Justice Tated was transferred to Aurangabad bench of the High Court last week, high court sources said. The case is likely to come up for hearing on January 12, RIL lawyers said.
In an interview to The Times on Friday, Chief executive of Eros International Kishore Lulla revealed that he was recently approached by a banker to know whether he would consider buying a stake in Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks studio. Noting that the plans are for organic growth, the daily said while Lulla may want to build a studio on the Hollywood model, he is worried about making the investment.
RCom, which, sources say had offered to pick up a 51 per cent stake in MTN through a complicated share-swap deal through which shareholders of the African company would pick up stake in RCom, had asked for an extension of the exclusivity talks for another three to four weeks.
Tata Power Company has moved the Delhi high court challenging the government's decision to allow Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power to divert coal from the captive mines of Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project for use in other projects.
Quoting an unnamed person familiar with the talks as saying that MTN and RCOM could extend their exclusive talks for another two to three weeks after the 45-day period expires tomorrow, the report said, 'there is no indication that extra time alone would be sufficient to resolve the feud' between Anil and Mukesh Ambani. The deal, if fructifies, could create a combined entity worth about $70-80 billion, which would be one the world's biggest emerging market telecom firm.
Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Communications said it has bought back foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth Rs 121.22 crore (Rs 1.21 billion).
"There are eight companies (who have put in expression of interest)... RNRL is one of them," said A K Ahuja, managing director, Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, the company that operates the nation's biggest gas-fired power plant and the adjacent LNG import facility. Others in the fray include state power utility NTPC and GMR. Ahuja said RGPPL will frame the bidding criteria and call for financial bids by next month.
Petroleum secretary RS Pandey declined to comment on the court verdict till the Government received a copy of the order. The Bombay high court on Monday upheld Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Natural Resources Ltd's contention to buy 28 mscmd of gas from Reliance Industries Ltd at USD 2.34 per mmBtu for 17 years.
Indian billionaire industrialist Anil Ambani has joined up with the family of Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood actor, to set up a joint venture to make films.
Reliance Infratel, a subsidiary of the group's telecom arm RCom, is looking to dilute 10-15 per cent stake in a private placement of shares with the PE firms, investment banking sources said. The company had last year scrapped plans to raise about Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) through sale of about 10 per cent shares in an IPO due to adverse market conditions.
The company has won the award under the 'Operator Leadership' category for having demonstrated leadership in the wireless community through the expansion of 3G CDMA system deployments and the unique implementation of 3G CDMA technologies in a specific market, a release issued by the company stated.