Facing heat from lenders, Anil Ambani says no desire to make personal gains

Ambani stepped down as director of RCom last November after the company was referred to insolvency tribunal

Anil Ambani's company, Reliance Telecon, slipped into insolvency in 2019. (Photo: Bloomberg) — In March, RCom lenders had approved the resolution plan that involved recovery of Rs 23,000 crore of loans through sale of group assets.

2 min read Last Updated : Jun 23 2020 | 9:47 PM IST

Anil Ambani (pictured), who is facing the heat from domestic and overseas lenders, on Tuesday said his sole desire was to help Reliance Communications (RCom) and not to make personal gains. He made the remark while addressing the shareholders of Reliance Power at the annual general body meeting on Tuesday.

Ambani stepped down as director of RCom last November after the company was referred to insolvency tribunal against the backdrop of a UK court directing him to pay $717 million to the three Chinese banks. Separately, State Bank of India (SBI), too, has moved insolvency court to recover Rs 1,200 crore from RCom.

Ambani told the shareholders that he was defending himself against these claims, while a significant proportion of the debt would get discharged under the resolution process before the insolvency court.

In March, RCom lenders had approved the resolution plan that involved recovery of Rs 23,000 crore of loans through sale of group assets. Lenders had made claims of Rs 49,000 crore against the company last year. Ambani also assured shareholders that none of these potential liabilities, if any, would have the slightest bearing whatsoever on the operations of Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure.

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As regards the claim of the Chinese banks, Ambani said he had not signed any guarantee for the loan.

Speaking at the AGM, Ambani said he had only signed “a power of attorney limited to executing a non-binding letter of comfort to the Chinese banks” when the now-bankrupt RCom borrowed money in 2012. “The guarantee on the basis of which the claim was made was admittedly not signed by him,” a RInfra statement said quoting Ambani.

According to the UK court’s order, the final amount owed under the alleged guarantee will be assessed based on the outcome of the RCom insolvency resolution process, the statement said.. On the case filed by SBI, he said the claim has arisen out of a guarantee given for a loan that was availed by RCom and Reliance Infratel in 2016 to repay the Chinese banks and certain other Indian banks.