Anil Ambani suffers another setback as SC sets aside arbitral award of ₹8,000 crore in favour of Reliance firm

Anil Ambani's rise and fall from being the sixth richest person in the world to facing bankruptcy.

He was ranked the sixth richest person in the world in 2008 but a series of setbacks — the latest being the Supreme Court setting aside a ₹8,000 crore arbitral award that was granted in favour of a firm in his group — reversed his fortunes.

An MBA from Wharton School, Anil Ambani, 64, the younger son of legendary business tycoon, Dhirubhai Ambani, was known for his flamboyant nature — he married bollywood actress Tina Munim and was a Rajya Sabha MP for two years — as much as for his unbeatable business acumen. But over the past few years, he has had setbacks across businesses that pushed him out of the billionaire list.

The Supreme Court on April 10 set aside a ₹8,000 crore arbitral award granted in favour of Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt (DAMEPL).

The award was in relation to a dispute arising out of a "concession agreement" that was entered into between DAMEPL (a subsidiary of Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure) and Delhi Metro Rail Corp in 2008. The court asked DAMEPL to refund all sums previously paid by the Delhi Metro Rail in accordance with the arbitral award. DMRC had paid ₹3,300 crore to the Reliance Infra arm, which now needs to be refunded.

Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure Ltd in a stock exchange filing that no liability has been imposed on it by the Supreme Court order. "Reliance Infrastructure wishes to clarify that the Order dated April 10, 2024, passed by the Supreme Court does not impose any liability on the company and the company has not received any money from DMRC/DAMEPL under the arbitral award," it said.

While DAMEPL is a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, it is a separate entity and the liability falls on it.

After Dhirubhai suffered a stroke in 1986, Anil took on day-to-day management of Reliance's financial relationships under his father's oversight. He and his elder brother, Mukesh, assumed joint leadership of the Reliance companies after their father's death in 2002.