Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications will move to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for Insolvency proceedings in order to repay 42,000 crore rupees to lenders. “The board noted that, despite the passage of over 18 months, lenders have received zero proceeds from the proposed asset-monetization plans, and the overall debt-resolution process is yet to make any headway,” said the company in a statement. More than 40 lenders including State Bank of India and China Development Bank, Union Bank, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and HSBC did not approve 18,000 crore rupees asset sale plan by RCom.
Earlier, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had accused Modi government of corruption worth 30,000 crore rupees in offset contracts of the Rafale deal. However, the facts are completely different as only 10 percent of offset contracts are awarded to Reliance Defense and that too was prerogative of Dassault Aviation with no involvement of ministry or the government. Rahul Gandhi accused Modi government of crony capitalism and corruption in order to favour Anil Ambani. However, the fact remains that Anil Ambani’s firm is going for resolution under the rule of law. IBC was implemented by the Modi government two years back to solve the NPA crisis of the UPA era. The businesses under the Modi government operate under ‘rule of law’ with no favours to family, friends or well-wishers.
Kapil Sibal, senior Congress leader and former Minister of Communications and Information Technology is representing Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications in the Supreme Court of India. Crony capitalism, corruption, nepotism, favoritism were buzzwords during UPA government. The hypocrisy of Congress is evident from the fact that its senior leader is fighting the case of Reliance Communications in the Supreme Court of India. According to government estimates, 1, 00,000 crores were awarded to Anil Ambani’s businesses in the last seven years of the Congress government. The data has been collated from key ministries such as power, telecom, road transport, and highways as well as from government entities like the National Highways Authority of India, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Officials have found many discrepancies in the deals awarded to Anil Ambani’s companies in the field of infrastructure and telecommunications. The deals to these companies were awarded in record time and the companies grew exponentially in the infamous second term of the Congress government.
“The biggest spurt in growth was in Reliance Infrastructure, which by 2011 had transformed from an electricity distribution company to India’s largest infrastructure company within five years. Nearly 12 projects worth over Rs 16,500 crore were initiated, making Reliance Infrastructure the largest private developer of roads in the country. All this is being looked into,” said the government official.
In 2007, a few months after the family business was split, according to the Forbes List of richest Indians, Anil Ambani had a net worth of $45 billion. His biggest asset was a 66% stake in the telecom venture, Reliance Communications. Elder brother Mukesh had a net worth of $49 billion. In the 2017 Forbes List of richest Indians, Anil’s net worth had shrunk to just $3.15 billion while Mukesh’s fortune stood firm at $38 billion. In the period of one decade, while the elder brother has expanded his empire throughout the country, the younger brother finds himself unable to handle family fortunes and has shrunk to the bottom line.