Mukesh Ambani defends Reliance Infocomm plan

In his first public appearance since the differences between the Ambani brothers became public, Mukesh Ambani today came out strongly in defence of Reliance Infocomm.

He said the foray into the IT and telecom space is in line with Dhirubhai Ambani's vision. He also announced new projects in Kolkata.

The announcement assumes significance since one of the main reasons behind the spat between the brothers, as cited by informed sources, was the huge investment of Reliance Industries in Reliance Infocomm.

RIL, the flagship company of the group, has a 45 per cent stake in the telecom venture which is said to have invested over Rs 11,000 crore already. Questions were raised about the financial wisdom of such a large investment and if it was a unrelated diversification gambit.

In his address, Ambani's bullishness about Reliance Infocomm was evident. Overall, the elder Ambani sibling strongly conveyed the impression that it was business as usual at Reliance as far as he was concerned.

He said, in less than 30 months, Reliance Infocomm had become a pan-Indian company connecting 5,000 towns and 100,000 villages, delivering voice, data and other value added services.

He further added, the company had unleashed a digital revolution and a broadband revolution was underway.

Going forward, Ambani said, Reliance Infocomm would take further steps to enhance its presence in West Bengal apart from more than Rs 1,000 crore it had already invested here.

In what could be seen as a measure to reinforce his confidence in the new economy venture, Ambani said, the company would set up a solutions development and service centre in Kolkata, the first outside of Mumbai. The centre would employ 2,500 people in three years.