Why the markets are unhappy with Mukesh Ambani

Mukesh Ambani's AGM speeches indicate a trail of forgotten promises and projects that have not ended up as envisaged.

His scriptwriters made sure that the content of the speech matched the title – 'Towards a quantum leap'.

In October 2007, in what is his most expansive shareholder statement so far, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani announced a slew of new projects and targets. The deafening applause at the annual general meeting (AGM) proved that the script had been played out to perfection.

Three-and-a-half-years later, the theme of Ambani's speech at the company's 37th AGM sounded familiar – 'Contours of a new wave of growth'.

But the response from the market and shareholders was muted this time, probably because while RIL had grown since then and delivered a few masterstrokes such as signing up with BP for a natural gas exploration and marketing deal that would bring at least $7.2 billion, and may be as much as $20 billion, the company has suffered on many fronts.

Image: Mukesh Ambani, right, accompanied by his wife Nita, second from left, arrives for the company's annual general meeting in Mumbai. Others in the picture are his mother Kokilaben Ambani, second left, and daughter Esha, left.

Text: Malini Bhupta and Vishal Chhabria, Business Standard

AP Images