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Regular-article-logo Thursday, 25 April 2024

Anil allays debt fears

Ambani has in recent weeks sold FM radio and mutual fund businesses to bring down the debt levels in the group

Our Special Correspondent Mumbai Published 11.06.19, 07:26 PM
Anil Ambani

Anil Ambani (Wikimedia Commons)

Anil Ambani on Tuesday said his group companies would meet all its future debt obligations as he envisaged the companies under him to have a capital-light structure with bare minimum liabilities after its current asset monetisation exercise in companies such as Reliance Capital is over.

Ambani, who has in recent weeks sold FM radio and mutual fund businesses to bring down the debt levels in the group, claimed his firms had repaid more than Rs 35,000 crore of loans in the last 14 months and that more asset sales are on the anvil.

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These steps, he added, will transform the group to a capital light entity with bare minimum debt and high return on equity (RoE).

Ambani made these comments at a conference call that lasted under 10 minutes. While he did not take any questions, the younger Ambani scion, who avoided a possible jail term after elder brother Mukesh paid off a liability towards a telecom equipment maker, blamed “unwarranted rumour-mongering” for the sharp fall in shares of his group firms, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure .

He blamed the finance community for his companies’ problems. He said not a single category of lender — banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, provident fund and non-banking finance companies — provided any support, though Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Group (RADAG) was paying off its debt.

“The debt serving payment had to be made almost entirely from asset monetisation despite a liquidity starved environment... in an operating environment beset by procedural and regulatory hurdles,” he said.

“Despite the continuing total apathy and lack of any support whatsoever from the financial system which only hurt the interest of lenders themselves and other stakeholders, the Reliance group demonstrated its bonafides in no uncertain manner.”

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