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| Anil's peace overture fails to impress Mukesh |
| BS Reporter / Mumbai Oct 12, 2009, 00:14 IST |
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 The long-drawn dispute between the two Ambani brothers took another turn today, with both Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani saying all disagreements can be sorted in a cordial and conciliatory manner.
While Anil Ambani issued a statement earlier in the day that he has "maintained the greatest of love, affection and respect for Mukesh,” Reliance Industries led by his elder brother responded that “both the RIL Chairman as also RIL have always wished him (Anil) well and will continue to do so”.
While the apparent change of heart ahead of the October 20 hearing of the dispute over KG gas in the Supreme Court surprised many, any early resolution of the dispute seems unlikely. Though RIL said it welcomed this “positive indicator” and will not be found wanting in responding to them constructively, the statement was quick to add that private differences between two brothers or two corporate entities can now only be decisively resolved by a decision of the highest court.
The RIL statement, issued late at night, also showed that the Mukesh Ambani camp isn’t yet ready to take Anil Ambani’s statement at face value. “RIL sincerely hopes that any overture for rapprochement to end acrimony is in no way related to the ongoing hearing of the case in the Supreme Court,” the statement said.
The statement also added that “Sadly, the conduct of ADAG so far makes it difficult for RIL to believe that Anil Ambani has had a real change of heart. For the last many years, he has indulged in a malicious campaign against RIL and its chairman.”
The reference was to Anil Ambani’s statements during a Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) AGM in July this year. He had said that there was a thin line between need and greed and that RIL’s corporate greed is a stumbling block in RNRL’s future.
Earlier today, on his return trip from a pilgrimage to Kedarnath and Badrinath, Anil Ambani had said the elder statesmen and family friends wanted an end to the current impasse.
“The issues are only a handful, and the facts are well known. My judgement says they can all be resolved in a matter of weeks, and will not require several months of discussions,” he added.
The two brothers, who split the family assets in 2005, are fighting a case in the Supreme Court over the allocation of gas from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin being developed by RIL to a power plant that Anil Ambani wants to set up in Uttar Pradesh. The hearings will resume on October 20.
Today's overtures from Anil Ambani follow a controversy over marketing margins that RIL was charging Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) to supply KG gas to a power plant in Andhra Pradesh. Last week, RInfra agreed to pay the marketing margins but said it would do so under protest.
RIL also said that the dispute under litigation was not merely a family matter and that vital national interests in terms of securing the government’s revenue from the natural gas are at stake.
“The interests of RIL’s shareholders are also at stake. RIL does not belong to a family. It belongs to shareholders, to those associates who have made this journey possible and most importantly to the nation,” RIL said.
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