A Day After Reliance Communications Posted A Loss Of Rs 30,142 Crore, Anil Ambani Quits As Director

Things are going from bad to worse for Anil Ambani, the younger brother of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani.?

On Saturday, Anil Ambani resigned along with Chhaya Virani, Ryna Karani, Manjari Kacker, Suresh Rangachar as directors of Reliance Communications.

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"Your good office may also note that Shri Manikantan V., has also tendered his resignation as a director and Chief Financial Officer of the Company earlier. The aforementioned resignations shall be put up to the committee of creditors of the Company for their consideration," RCom said in a filing.

The development came a day after RCom, which is currently going through insolvency proceeding posted a loss of Rs 30,142 crores in the second quarter of fiscal 2020. The loss is the second-highest by an Indian company so far.?

The losses were mainly because of the provisioning of liabilities due to the government.?

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Just last week Anil was dealt another blow after three Chinese banks sued him in a London court for failing to pay back US$680 million in defaulted loans.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China agreed to loan US$925.2 million to Anil Ambani’s firm Reliance Communications in 2012 on condition that he provided a personal guarantee, ICBC’s lawyer Bankim Thanki told the court.

Some repayments were made by the wireless carrier, but in February 2017 it defaulted on its payment obligations.

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Earlier this year, telecommunications and networking major Ericsson had dragged him to court over unpaid dues of Rs 5.5 billion.?

The Supreme Court had threatened to send Anil to jail if he failed to pay the dues.

However, the elder Ambani intervened at the last moment and paid the dues to the Swedish equipment maker and saved Anil from going to jail.?

60-year-old Anil, once one of the richest men in India, just behind his elder brother had seen his wealth crumble in front of his eyes.

In 2008, he was the sixth richest man in the world with an estimated wealth of $42 billion in 2008. But as of July 2019, he is no longer a billionaire and his assets had shrunk to Rs 3,651 crore ($523 million).

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Anil has also found himself in the eye of another political controversy. Reliance Aerostructure Limited owned by Anil was awarded the offset contract with Dassault Aviation, the French company which makes the Rafale fighter jets for India, despite having no prior experience in the field.