Ambani soap opera: No entry

The Ambani vs Ambani battle is turning out to be a never-ending soap opera.

The latest episode is over what Reliance Industries alleges as "denial of entry as well as use of common space" in the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai, now owned by Anil Ambani.

Reliance Industries has issued an internal mail to its employees working in DAKC, asking them to be "resilient" to denial of common space, including food courts, ATMs, meeting rooms, and even the temple.

The Anil Ambani group, however, said the contents of the internal mail were distorted and malicious. "Reliance staff have access to facilities in their part of DAKC," sources in Reliance Infocomm said.

The Infocomm sources said Reliance Industries had defaulted on payment of Rs 200 crore for use of DAKC despite several reminders.

Reliance Industries executives said they did not want to comment on this as it was a "figment of their imagination."

Also, the allegation did not hold water as Reliance Infocomm had also been reluctant to settle dues with Reliance Industries, they said.

According to the June 2005 settlement, Mukesh Ambani is supposed to pull out of DAKC within three years, as the ownership of office space is with Anil Ambani.

Reliance Industries occupies two buildings "" National Headquarters and Petroleum Headquarters "" in DAKC, while Reliance Infocomm occupies the remaining space.

The internal mail sent by Reliance Industries also said that its executives had met Infocomm representatives, and "appealed to them to not hurt religious sentiments by denying people access to the temple."

The Infocomm sources, however, rubbished the statement.

On the dining area, Reliance Industries said it was hopeful that Infocomm might agree to allow its employees working out of C & D blocks to use the food court.

"All other staff at the Petroleum Headquarters/National Headquarters are requested to refrain from visiting the food court, if possible, to avoid humiliation and insult," the mail said.