Anil Ambani, chairman of the Reliance Group, tried to ward off shareholders’ concerns regarding legal proceedings initiated against him by Chinese banks in London and State Bank of India in Mumbai.
He was addressing Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure shareholders during the online annual general meeting.
The loan, in respect of which the proceedings had been initiated, was not any personal borrowing but a corporate loan availed of by Reliance Communications in 2012 from a consortium of three Chinese banks — CDB, ICBC and C-EXIM — for global refinancing, he said.
According to Mr. Ambani, the guarantee, on the basis of which the claim was made, was admittedly not signed by him. In actual fact, he had only signed a power of attorney limited to executing a non-binding letter of comfort to the Chinese banks. His defence, however, has been shut out by the U.K. courts on his inability to personally deposit a sum of $100 million.
As per the U.K. court’s Order, the final amount owed under the alleged guarantee will be assessed based on the outcome of the RCOM insolvency resolution process. In addition, he will avail of all available legal remedies in India to protect his interest.
On proceedings initiated by the SBI, he said this also did not concern personal borrowing but arose from a guarantee given for a loan availed by Reliance Communications and Reliance Infratel in 2016 to repay the debts of Chinese and Indian banks.
He is defending himself against these claims and firmly believes that upon the resolution of RCOM and RITL’s debt as per their Resolution Plans filed before NCLT, a significant proportion, if not the whole, of the said debts will stand discharged and all these matters satisfactorily resolved.
He also reassured fellow shareholders that his sole desire was to assist the Group and not to make any personal gains. It was also to demonstrate his unflagging commitment to the best interests of all stakeholders.
He reassured fellow share-owners that none of these potential liabilities if any would have the slightest bearing whatsoever on the operations of the company, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, or its bright future prospects.
Mr. Ambani added that Reliance Infrastructure would become a debt-free firm during this fiscal and the promoters plan to raise their shareholding.
The company had ₹60,000 crore of receivables stuck in regulatory and arbitration matters, which are pending for as many as 5 to 10 years.
