Ambani sets goals for children; cites Messi to explain leadership

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani has a pan-India 5G mobile network rollout plan by 2023-end, chasing more ambitious goals in retail and making Reliance India's greenest corporate as goals for his three children as he cited the example of Messi to explain leadership and teamwork.

Speaking to company employees at his father and founder Dhirubhai's birth anniversary, celebrated as Reliance Family Day, he said the oil-to-telecom-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd has embarked on a journey of comprehensive self-transformation.

Ambani, who had first spoken of a succession plan at India's most valuable company at the 2021 Reliance Family Day, has identified three verticals for his three children -- telecom and digital business for elder son Akash, retail for twin sister Isha and new energy business for youngest son Anant.

And on Reliance Family Day on Wednesday, the chairman and managing director of the 104 billion conglomerate spoke of the goal three have to achieve.

His speech was released to the media on Thursday.

"Years will roll. Decades will pass.

“Reliance will continue to grow bigger and bigger, like the proverbial Banyan tree... its branches will spread wider, its roots will go deeper, and it will touch the lives of an ever-increasing number of Indians, enriching them, empowering them, nourishing them, and caring for them," he said.

He said Reliance will complete its 50 years in the next five years and he wants to spell out its expectations from the leaders and employees.

"Under Akash's chairmanship, Jio is rolling out the world's best 5G network across India, at a pace which is faster than anywhere in the world.

“Jio's 5G deployment will be complete in 2023," he said.

"But Jio Platforms should now get ready for India's next big opportunity - to provide unique digital products and solutions to both domestic and international markets."

Since every single village will have 5G connectivity, India has a historic opportunity to completely erase the rural-urban divide by ensuring access to high-quality education, high-quality healthcare and high-productivity economic activities.

"This is how Jio can accelerate India's inclusive development," he said.

Retail business under Isha has grown rapidly and emerged as one with the widest and deepest reach in India, across all product baskets.

"But I know that all of you in the Retail Team are capable of chasing even more ambitious targets and goals," he said.

Like Jio, the growth of the retail business will also have a cascading effect on India's inclusive development, creating more jobs, providing farmers higher income, making SMEs and large manufacturers more productive and helping traders become more prosperous.

The group continues to build on its leadership in the oil-to-chemical business, which comprises the world's largest single-location oil refining complex and petrochemical plants, with new capacities and capabilities.

Also, the integration of media and entertainment business with digital services will reinvent the industry, he said.

The new energy business, which spans from building Giga factories for renewable energy as well as entry into the hydrogen business, has the potential to transform the company, he said.

"With Anant joining this upcoming Next-Gen business, we are making rapid progress in getting our Giga factories in Jamnagar ready," he said.

"From being India's largest and most valuable corporate, Reliance is now well on its way to also becoming India's 'greenest' corporate."

The goals before the new energy team are crystal clear - enable India to achieve security and self-sufficiency in energy by reducing the dependence on imports.

"And remember, you can do so only by remaining agile and ahead of the technology curve," he said.

Ambani said winning in business takes both leadership and teamwork and went on to cite the example of Argentina earlier this month winning the world cup football.

"But how did Argentina win the Cup? It is because of the combination of leadership and teamwork.

“Messi could not have won the Cup on his own.

“Similarly, the Argentinian team could not have won without Messi's inspiring leadership.

"They faltered in the first game, but they did not give up.

“Ultimately, they won because they were breathing victory, dreaming of victory, and doing everything needed to achieve victory... until the last penalty shot," he said.

And this is how founder Dhirubhai Ambani also built Reliance, he said.

Besides his father, Ambani said he was also inspired by Swami Vivekananda's thoughts.

"Swamiji says: "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea.

“Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone.

“This is the way to success".

“Let's follow this mantra," he added.