Billionaires taken to task by rise of Indian small investors

Clashes in the management are growing as retail investors channel more savings into the stock market

With Anil Ambani's telecom unit battling insolvency proceedings, the Indian billionaire found a target to blame for some of its woes at a recent shareholder meeting: Shailesh Mehta, a 71-year-old investor who holds just 10 shares in the indebted company.

Addressing the hall, Ambani said Mehta had cost banks and other shareholders by challenging, in the Bombay High Court, Reliance Communications' attempt to merge with another telecom operator, Sistema Shyam Teleservices.

Ambani's frustration with the activist is understandable. Until recently, minority shareholders in India rarely clashed with management and individual investors were more likely to use meetings to recite poetry and sing