Mukesh allays fears of IPCL shareholders

The annual general meeting (AGM) of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd at IPCL Auditorium on the outskirts of Vadodara city turned out to be a low profile affair.

Keeping in mind the high media attention that the event was going to get, especially following the separation of the Ambani brothers, IPCL had changed the venue of the AGM from the traditional CC Mehta auditorium of Maharaja Sayjirao University in heart of the city to the IPCL auditorium.

But about 1,000 anxious shareholders of IPCL thronged the venue, which is over 12 kilometres away from the city. The local police, apart from private security guards of the company, protected the IPCL gates in an attempt to keep the media away from Mukesh Ambani.

"The AGM is being conducted as per the plan," said an IPCL official at the gate of IPCL facility even as rain poured down at around 3:30 pm.

Shareholders were anxious in view of rumours about merging the IPCL with Reliance Industries Ltd.

The meeting proved rewarding for shareholders with an announcement of 45 per cent dividend compared with 25 per cent last time. There were some voices here and there demanding better pay out but Ambani had words for that - "Do not lose patience."

There were about 10 questions raised by shareholders pertaining to issues related to the merger of the IPCL and dividend. One of the shareholders also pointed that the share price of the IPCL is not growing at the pace at which Sensex is moving upward.

"Its not been too long since Reliance has taken over the reins of the IPCL. I believe you should keep patience and fruits will be there shortly. We are doing our best to enhance the performance of the capital and human resources of the company. We are trying to integrate feedstock chain to improve the competitiveness of the company," said Mukesh Ambani.

Meanwhile, Jagdish Thakkar who has been delivering vote of thanks on behalf of shareholders for last four years was excited, as Mukesh Ambani was addressing the first meeting after the announcement of separation.

Thakkar, who is a past president of Vadodara Stock Exchange and an active stockbroker, was chosen to deliver the vote of thanks on behalf of shareholders of the company in 2001-02. The tradition has continued since then. Despite the clash between the Ambani brothers over the control of the Reliance Group, Thakkar has the same engaging recollection for IPCL.

Commenting on the recent AGM of IPCL at Vadodara on Monday, Thakkar said," Being an investor and a representative of shareholders, during the general meeting I have not found much difference this year compared with previous years. The only difference was that investors were apprehensive about rumours related to the merger which Mukeshbhai ruled out."

He added "This is the first public meeting addressed by Mukeshbhai after the announcement of separation a fortnight ago."

The only thing that Thakkar did not enjoy during the day was the movement of the IPCL scrip. "The share price of IPCL, which was as high as Rs 190 during the day came down to Rs 168 by the end of the session."

IPCL has declared 45 per cent dividend for the financial year 2004-05. However, Thakkar has faith in Ambani's statement," Mukeshbhai has said during the meeting that 'do not lose patience'."

It was during the last AGM, Thakkar had proposed to Mukesh Ambani to renovate local crematorium and received fund to the tune of Rs 80 lakh.

"The renovation project of crematorium will be completed with features such as live web casting of list rites and dedicated to Dhirubhai Ambani. We are planning to invite Kokilaben for opening ceremony of restored crematorium," said Thakkar.