Heirs Now Apparent

With Mukesh Ambani announcing the appointment of his children to the board of Reliance Industries, the much awaited succession plan at the conglomerate seems well underway

- KRISHNA GOPALAN

MUKESH AMBANI, CHAIRMAN and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), is finally moving towards effecting a succession plan for his diversified conglomerate. At the annual general meeting held recently, Ambani announced the appointment of his three children, twins Akash and Isha, and younger son Anant, to the board of the $119-billion group as non-executive directors, conditional on the approval of the company's shareholders.

Market trackers view the development as a clear indication of succession planning in the group. In many ways, the foundation for this move had been laid a few years ago when the three siblings were given clear responsibilities within the group's various businesses. Currently, Isha runs the group's retail business Reliance Retail, whereas Akash is in charge of the telecom business Reliance Jio Infocomm, and Anant oversees the new green energy business. It is in that backdrop that moving them to the board of RIL appears to be a continuation of the succession process.