Udaipur, India: How confident are you about the success of Mr. Ambani’s grand plan, knowing well that now he is venturing into territory unlike his earlier initiatives (decontrolled environment)?
Moreau: I’m not an expert. But Indian market analysts, bankers and investors all seem to have complete confidence in Ambani’s ability to make his ambitious programs successful.
Mumbai, India: You have almost painted Mukesh Ambani to be an Indian ‘superman.’ Why, then, does the average middle-class Indian distrust Mukesh Ambani?
My feeling is there’s more trust than mistrust. Many middle-class Indians own Reliance stock.
Pasadena, Texas: How has Ambani broken through India’s infamous red tape. That is the frustration of entrepreneurs worldwide. Influential friends in government? Sophisticated bribes? Contributions to humanitarian causes? Is India’s democratic government tolerant of bribery of government officials? Parliamentary members? Cabinet officials?
Ambani’s late father, Dhirubhai, was a master at working inside the political and bureaucratic corridors of power to get permission to do business under India’s old “license raj.” But now as a result of India’s reform programs, Ambani has been able to lobby for, and take advantage of, new economic openings. The federal and state governments are realizing it’s a win-win situation for both the governments and entrepreneurs when regulations are loosened or dropped entirely. One of Ambani’s target areas is communist-controlled West Bengal where the government has welcomed his agricultural and retailing plans with open arms.
[Location Withheld]: Part of your article says Mukesh’s father died in 2002, setting off a power struggle between Mukesh and Anil. Does this imply Dhirubhai didn’t leave a will? And what lessons did Mukesh learn from this fight?
Yes, Dhirubhai died without leaving a will or any plan for succession. Mukesh says that he learned that he and his brother had vastly different styles of managing and operating but that they were basically striving after the same goals.
Abu Dhabi: What was the most impression you got of Mukesh Ambani? His personality? His time management?
Like most highly successful people, Mukesh is a bundle of energy and largely a workaholic. He never seems to stop working. He is not an aggressive, backslapping type of person. He is friendly but gets down to business quickly.
Bellevue, Wash.: How did Mukesh come out as a person during the interview. He is ambitious, he is efficient, does he retain the humane spirit that signifies an Indian approach to business?
Mukesh is very friendly and all energy. He is a nonstop talker who is anxious to share his “vision” for India. He and his wife are very involved in charities, social, educational and health projects, as well.
Gandhidham, India: “Mukesh Ambani”—the name is enough. He is not only Mr. Big, he is Big B. He is our heartbeat. Reliance is our status. In short, without Ambani and Reliance, our country is not big.
Yes, most Indians seem to have confidence in Mukesh and Reliance, which is the country’s most widely held stock.
Banagalore, India: Government seems intent on introducing reservations in the private sector. How do you intent to keep the competitive edge with reservations?
On the contrary, Mukesh says the government is opening up ever wider to the private sector. He points to the new openings such as private retailers being able to buy produce directly from the farms, and private investors being allowed to draw up master plans for huge new projects without government interference.
New Delhi, India: Is Mukesh Ambani the first or the second Indian to make it to NEWSWEEK’s cover? Or were there other Indians who did?
Several Indians have appeared on the cover of NEWSWEEK. I recall Indira Gandhi appearing more than once, her son Rajiv, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh last year, and earlier this year an Indian movie starlet, as well.
Evansville, Ind.: I read about your article about Mukesh Ambani. Mukesh has great plans about the farming sector in India. The developments in the farming community in India could be achieved through high-technology and financial support through co-operative societies. Does he have any specific ideas and plan on village developments and development of farming community in India?
Mukesh has Reliance teams living in Indian villages studying what needs to be done to improve rural life. One of his big schemes is installing biomass electricity generators that would be run largely by village electricity cooperatives. Thus Indian farmers will not have to wait decades more for their village to get attached to the national electricity grid. He believes that rural development will accelerate once farmers have electricity.
New York, N.Y.: In this article it is mentioned that India is a net exporter of energy (by exporting refined petroleum products). India imports around 70 percent of the crude oil it needs, the cost of this being offset by refined petroleum exports seems to be too fantastic. Do we have any data to back this up?
Yes, when the Jamnagar refinery came fully on line in 2000, India became a net exporter for the first time, exporting 400,000 tons of refined petroleum products. By 2005 India was exporting 9.8 million tons, almost exclusively from the Reliance refinery. Quite a dramatic turnaround.
Houston, Texas: How does [Ambani] plan to really bring quality inputs and get quality outputs from agriculture? The bane of Indian agriculture is either extreme and discriminate use of inputs or no inputs at all, while output quality is marginalized by the middle man and the farmer to make their ends meet.
He and other big players such as ICICI bank plan to begin by giving farmers market-based loans and improved agricultural know-how for free. Thus the farmers will no longer be dependent on cutthroat, local loan sharks. Reliance also plans to more or less eliminate the middleman by dealing directly with the farmers and giving them a fair price for their produce.
