My eyes wandered to a headline in todays Economic Times that RAM JETHMALANI is to take on RIL. He will represent RNRL in their legal battle with RIL who is being represented by HARISH SALVE…..the dispute is that RIL is refusing to abide by an agreement of 2005 between the two Ambani Brothers ,when the Reliance Group was divided between the two ,to supply gas from The Krishna Godavari Feild (This will start being pumped in the next month or two) to RNRL at the then agreed price of US $ 2.34/mmbtu…this was the price at which RIL agreed to sell gas to NTPC through an international competitive bidding in 2004.
The stand RIL has taken is that the government has rejected RIL-RNRL gas deal stating it was not an arms length contract and the price was not arrived through International Competitive Bidding. In 2007 the government set a base price of US $ 4.2/mmbtu
However what caught my eye was MR JETHMALANI”S disclosure that he has never represented RIL in the past 30 years…in fact has fought cases against it.Also when he reveals ” When Dhirubhai expired in 2002, I personally called up both Mukesh and Anil, and advised them not to fight, but within six months both brothers were at each others throat.”
This clearly indicates that the Sons,MUKESH and ANIL had a severe difference of opinion on how to run the RELIANCE GROUP even when their Father DHIRUBHAI AMBANI was alive …..and like is typical in Gujarati Families,DHURUBHAI the Doyen must have said when the bitterness and animosity among his sons must have come to a head” Mara marya pacchi tamne jeh karvu hoi teh karjo”……. it translates into ” Do whatever you’ll want ,but only after my Death !”…..the split was inevitable…Interestingly the split increased the wealth of RIL and ADAG Companies shareholders multifold inside three years
MR JETHMALANI further expresses his displeasure with Mukesh Ambani in context of a recent Ambani interview to the New York Times. “He (Mukesh) simply transferred all the blame to Anil alleging that he was responsible for all the malpractices about getting critical government and rival corporate information through intelligence agency. This is not done.”
Interesting Battles ahead between the AMBANI Brothers…Clearly there will be no inertia in the share prices of the Companies they Control…no wonder traders and speculators love these scrips as the volatility presents opportunities