He was ranked the sixth richest person in the world in 2008 but a series of setbacks — the latest being the Supreme Court setting aside a ₹8,000 crore arbitral award that was granted in favour of a firm in his group — reversed his fortunes.

An MBA from Wharton School, Anil Ambani, 64, the younger son of legendary business tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani, was known for his flamboyant nature — he married bollywood actress Tina Munim and was a Rajya Sabha MP for two years — as much as for his unbeatable business acumen. But over the past few years, he has had setbacks across businesses that pushed him out of the billionaire list.

The Supreme Court on April 10 set aside a ₹8,000 crore arbitral award granted in favour of Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt (DAMEPL).

The award was in relation to a dispute arising out of a “concession agreement” that was entered into between DAMEPL (a subsidiary of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure) and Delhi Metro Rail Corp in 2008. The court asked DAMEPL to refund all sums previously paid by the Delhi Metro Rail in accordance with the arbitral award. DMRC had paid ₹3,300 crore to the Reliance Infra arm, which now needs to be refunded.

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd in a stock exchange filing that no liability has been imposed on it by the Supreme Court order. “Reliance Infrastructure wishes to clarify that the Order dated April 10, 2024, passed by the Supreme Court does not impose any liability on the company and the company has not received any money from DMRC/DAMEPL under the arbitral award,” it said.

While DAMEPL is a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, it is a separate entity and the liability falls on it.

Rise and fall

After Dhirubhai suffered a stroke in 1986, Anil took on day-to-day management of Reliance’s financial relationships under his father’s oversight. He and his elder brother, Mukesh, assumed joint leadership of the Reliance companies after their father’s death in 2002.

But soon after they feuded over control, leading to split — Mukesh got control of flagship oil and petrochemicals, while Anil gained control of the newer businesses such as telecommunications, power generation, and financial services through a 2005 demerger.

The two brothers, who had diverging fortunes thereafter, did not stop feuding. They fought over supply of gas from fields operated by Mukesh’s company to the power plant of Anil’s group. The elder brother won the case in Supreme Court which said a family pact cannot override a government’s allocation policy.

Anil borrowed money to fuel an expansion with forays into infrastructure, defence and entertainment businesses. In 2009, the Allahabad High Court quashed land acquisition for the proposed mega gas-based power project at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh by Anil’s group.

A non-compete clause between the brothers kept Mukesh out of telecom but that was scrapped in 2010. Mukesh quickly returned, pumping in more than ₹2.5 lakh crore over the next seven years to build a speedier 4G wireless network, which drove out competition, including Anil’s Reliance Communications (RCom).

His venture into the entertainment business with a $1.2 billion deal with Adlabs in 2005 and DreamWorks in 2008 did not work. In 2014, his power and infrastructure companies plunged into huge debt. Anil sold assets to quell investor concerns around the indebtedness of some of his companies. He sold companies like Big Cinema, Reliance Big Broadcasting, and Big Magic. RCom, which ushered in a telecom revolution in the country, was sent to insolvency proceedings to repay debt.

His bets on defence manufacturing, too, failed.

In 2019, the Supreme Court had threatened Anil Ambani with prison after Reliance Communications (RCom) failed to pay ₹550 crore to Ericsson AB’s Indian Unit. The court gave him a month to find the funds and Mukesh Ambani bailed him out at the last moment by giving the required money.

In 2019, three Chinese banks dragged Anil Ambnai to a London court over a $680 million loan default. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China had in 2012 agreed to loan $925 million to his group firm Reliance Communications on condition that he provide a personal guarantee.

RCom defaulted and the three banks sued Anil Ambani, who said he agreed to give a non-binding “personal comfort letter” but never a guarantee tied to his personal assets. The matter is still in court.

Reliance Capital filed for bankruptcy in 2021 after defaulting on bonds worth ₹24,000 crore.

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, which built Mumbai’s first metro line, missed a bond payment as it waited for proceeds from the sale of power transmission assets to Gautam Adani’s unit to cover the amount.

A video of a man lighting up a beedi (thin cigarette) inside a Delhi Metro compartment has gone viral on the internet, angering a section of internet users. In the undated clip, a man can be seen sitting inside the metro, moments later, he was seen smoking in a moving metro train. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has taken note of the same and said that it is an “objectionable behaviour”.

“We conduct random checking through flying squads to detect any such objectionable behaviour. We appeal to the public to instantly bring up such instances to our notice so that immediate action can be taken,” the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said in a statement.

Smoking inside the metro premises is strictly prohibited and is a punishable offence.

Officials said the urban transporter also uses social media to make people aware of a range of issues, including public etiquette, on trains, PTI reported. 

See the video here:

दिल्ली मेट्रो में बस यही देखना बचा था, बुजुर्ग का बीड़ी सुलगाते हुए वीडियो वायरल। pic.twitter.com/LcJzPezxWP

— Greater Noida West (@GreaterNoidaW) September 25, 2023

The video has enraged many social media users. A user wrote, “Instead of taking his video people should have educated him on the spot about not doing such activities in the metro. He seems to be an uneducated man so can’t blame him for this act.”

“Haha, this video made my day! You’ve got to love the unique encounters on Delhi Metro. Let’s hope DCP takes appropriate action on this one,” another user wrote.

“There are two offences: 1. Smoking in metro 2. Videography in metro,” the third user wrote on X.

In May this year, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that it had decided to strengthen patrolling at stations and inside trains by uniformed security personnel and staffers in plain clothes after a string of such videos caused controversy.

The Delhi Metro also requested commuters to report such incidents to the “nearest available metro staff/CISF immediately so that appropriate action can be taken”.

The DMRC in a statement said that it “expects its commuters to behave responsibly while using the Delhi Metro and follow all social etiquette and protocols which are acceptable in the society”.

“Commuters should not indulge in any indecent/obscene activity that may cause discomfort or could offend the sensibilities of other fellow commuters. DMRC’s Operations & Maintenance Act in fact lists out indecency as a punishable offence under Section 59,” it said.

New Delhi:

Delhi Metro on Friday started a special drive to stop the entry of male passengers into coaches reserved for women and issued penalties to violators.

The drive may be extended beyond the stipulated ten days, based on the outcomes achieved, a senior official said.

“Delhi Metro today started a special drive to stop the entry of male passengers in the coaches reserved for ladies. The drive will be jointly conducted by DMRC, CISF & DMRP from 6 pm to 10 pm on all lines of the network for the next 10 days till 10th September 2023. #DelhiMetro,” the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said on ‘X’.

The quantum of penalty for a male passenger who enters a women-only coach is Rs 250, the official said.

“This drive may be extended further after the first 10 days based on the outcome achieved. Necessary punitive action shall be taken against the offenders as per the existing provisions,” the Delhi Metro said on ‘X’ and also added pictures of the drive on its account. 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)