Anant Ambani's AGM debut signals generational shift at Reliance Industries

Ambani scion details expansion in petrochemicals, bioenergy and green hydrogen in first appearance as RIL ED

Anant Ambani, the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, grabbed eyeballs for the first time as executive director (ED) of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), leading the company’s vast oil, gas and petrochemicals’ empire at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday.

 

Mukesh Ambani, 68, chairman of RIL, set the stage for his younger son’s debut. “This is the first time he is addressing you at Reliance’s AGM,” the chairman told shareholders at the online meeting. “I am as excited as all of you to see him make a debut on our platform.”

 

Anant, 30, presented Reliance’s ambitious vision for its legacy energy business, a sector that has defined the company for decades.

 

It is undergoing rapid transformation amid global energy shifts and clean-energy transition.

 

Anant’s debut marked the clearest sign of a generational transition at Reliance, with each of Ambani’s children carving out their own leadership domains.

 

According to the current planning, Akash Ambani, 33, leads initial public offering (IPO)-bound Reliance Jio’s telecom and digital businesses, and his twin sister Isha oversees retail and consumer products. Anant is being positioned as the steward of Reliance’s legacy energy empire — spanning oil, gas, refining, petrochemicals and the pivot to clean fuels.

 

Akash took over as chairman of Reliance Jio in June 2022. Isha, currently executive director of Reliance Retail Ventures, joined as non-executive director at RIL in August 2023 with Akash.

 

Anant was designated RIL executive director with his term starting in May this year.

 

The three siblings are groomed by veterans in their respective sectors hired from across the world.

 

The Ambani family also owns half of the stake in Jio Financial Services (JFS), a listed entity, which is entering the fast-growing lending, insurance, mutual fund and wealth management businesses. Isha is currently holding the position of non-executive director on the JFS board.

 

At the Reliance AGM, Anant outlined the company's future of oil and gas and clean energy businesses after his older siblings made presentations about their domains.

 

“Our exploration & production business is a cornerstone of India’s energy security. It contributes nearly 30 per cent of the nation’s natural gas output,” Anant said.

 

The company reported record earnings from the division in FY25, with production gains at the KG-D6 basin and a 30 per cent output jump from coal-bed methane blocks powered by India’s first 40-well multilateral drilling campaign.

 

Anant also detailed Reliance’s bio-energy ambitions, calling it a “clear mission” to empower farmers as energy producers. “This year, we are building 55 CBG  (compressed bio gas) plants with an annual capacity of 0.5 million tonnes. Our target is to scale up to over 500 CBG plants by 2030,” Anant told investors.

 

Beyond exploration and renewables, Anant spoke at length about refining and petrochemicals — long considered the cash engine of Reliance. “Our refineries processed a record 72.2 million tonnes of crude in FY25,” he said.

 

The division is investing ₹75,000 crore in new projects, including a 1.2 million tonne PVC plant at Nagothane, expanded PTA capacity at Dahej, and one of the world’s three largest carbon fibre facilities at Hazira.

 

“At Jamnagar, we are on course to realising the autonomous refinery,” he said, underlining how digital twins, process automation and deep-tech are being embedded across operations.

 

The shift to clean energy remained a key theme in his presentation. Anant highlighted construction progress at the Dhirubhai Ambani Giga Energy Complex in Jamnagar. He described this complex as “the world’s most integrated new energy ecosystem” and is four times the size of Singapore.

 

The site will house giga factories for solar modules, batteries and electrolysers, and aims to produce 3 million tonnes per annum of green hydrogen equivalent capacity by 2032.

 

Anant's appearance also underscored the group’s balancing act — defending margins in oil and chemicals, which were hit by India’s slowing down on Russian crude imports, while simultaneously investing billions in green and renewable ventures.

 

For Mukesh Ambani, who has pledged to more than double Reliance’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) by 2028, the involvement of his children is part of both leadership planning and business reinvention.

 

By giving Anant the reins of energy, the company signalled that the cornerstone of Reliance’s past will remain central to its future, even as new growth engines in artificial intelligence and consumer products take shape.