Investor Reliance

alone should bring the company back in favour with domestic investors, who have expressed their skepticism in recent years through a low price-earnings ratio on the marketperhaps one reason why the company has preferred debt to equity in recent years.

Few have doubted either the companys or Mr Ambanis redoubtable abilities. But through the last couple of decades, both have also been dogged repeatedly by controversy. The most important aspect of Mr Ambanis message, if it has been read correctly, is that both he and the company now wish to leave behind the era of controversies, and focus on productive work.

With its totally integrated systems ranging from production of crude oil through a grassroots refinery and cracker to world class manufacturing capacities for end products, Reliance is almost where it set out to be 10 years ago. Mr Ambanis mission statement is about enhancing shareholder value in a time-bound, transparent manner. By committing the company to specific targets for the next five years, he has not only notched yet another first in Indias corporate world but also made sure that the company can now aspire to grow bigger than the one man who has till date symbolised the Reliance saga. It could also be his way of ensuring a seamless transfer of power to the younger generation of Ambanis.

Very few Indian companies are as focussed as Reliance. And even fewer operate world class production systems that are totally integrated from start to finish. With the promise of diversification into areas like power and telecommunications, the company is also positioning itself so that it can ride out commodity cycles. And since some of the companys major expansion projects have gone on stream, confidence has grown to the point where a further sharp increase in capacities can be planned, and target dates set. Mr Ambani is known for his theory about changing orbits as a mark of progress. The message just now is that Reliance seems to be getting into a bigger, more ambitious orbit.