Even as Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani outlined the company’s roadmap and reflected on its milestones, his witty quips left shareholders chuckling, at the 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Mumbai.
Asked by a shareholder whether the company was discriminating against its small shareholders in favour of heavyweight investors, using the analogy of Sudama and Krishna, Mukesh Ambani said: “There is no Sudama, no Krishna, we are all Krishna; Jai Shri Krishna!”
He added: “Of course, it is human nature that
“This has been my father Dhirubhai Ambani’s vision, which has been taught to me, and I want to pass it on to the next generation in my family.”
He further assured shareholders of the company’s vision to create more jobs and livelihoods through various initiatives.
“We don’t just create jobs, we also create livelihoods, and we take this process very seriously. We hope to ramp up the manpower front at Jamnagar to mobilise a peak level of almost one lakh people catering to all the projects in Jamnagar,” said the Chairman. Besides the company’s mega refinery being located in Jamnagar, the place is also home to the company’s coke gasification project, touted as a global major.
Some shareholders were disappointed on not getting a chance to ask Mukesh Ambani a question.
They, however, expressed happiness on Mukesh Ambani officially welcoming wife Nita Ambani as a new board member.
Retail as growth engine Outlining the company's plans to turn retail into a growth engine for the company's consumer business by expanding into existing and new markets, Mukesh Ambani announced scaling up of the company's new format Digital Express Mini.
This is positioned as a neighbourhood technology store for mobility and communications products.
The company's retail business Reliance Retail grew by 34 per cent in FY-14 to reach revenues of ₹14,496 crore making it India's largest retailer by revenues stated Mukesh Ambani.
It operates 1691 stores covering an area of 11.7 million square feet across 146 cities.