Ambani sets succession plan in motion, appoints Isha, Akash and Anant on Reliance board

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Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's children -- Isha, Akash and Anant, on Monday were appointed on the board of his energy-to-technology conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, in what is seen as a clear path of succession planning at India's most valuable company.

The board of Reliance met ahead of the company's annual general meeting to approve the appointment of twins Isha and Akash as well as Anant, as the "non-executive directors of the company," the firm said in a stock exchange filing.

Last year, the 66-year-old tycoon had made way for his first-born Akash Ambani to become the chairman of India's largest mobile firm, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

Ambani, however, continued to be the chairman of Jio Platforms, the firm that holds Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Akash's twin sister, Isha, 31, was identified for Reliance's retail arm and the youngest sibling Anant for new energy business.

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio's 5G services marks the fastest-ever rollout of this scale anywhere in the world, and the company is "on track" to cover the entire country with the ultra high-speed network by December this year, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday.

JioAirFiber will be launched on Ganesh Chaturthi, September 19, Ambani said at the 46th AGM of Reliance Industries.

Also read: Reliance FY23 report: Rs 9.7T revenue, Rs 1.5T EBITDA, 33.4 per cent export surge

Jio customer base has crossed 450 million. Its 5G network covers 96 per cent of towns and the company is on track to cover the entire country by December.

"Jio's overall customer base has now crossed the milestone of 450 million subscribers, reflecting a year-on-year revenue growth of over 20 per cent," he said.

The per-user data consumption on Jio's network has surged, with the average user now consuming over 25 GB every month.

Ambani said that Jio was launched seven years ago with a mission to transform India into a Premier Digital Society, and added "we have invested our heart and soul into building a Digital Public Infrastructure which the entire world has begun to admire."

Jio has been the main catalyst of New India's spectacular digital transformation, he asserted.

"Now our ambitions are even higher -- and they go beyond the shores of India, as I shall explain. Let's first discuss Jio True 5G, our pioneering 5G broadband offering. We began our 5G rollout last October. In just nine months, Jio 5G is already present in over 96 per cent of the census towns of our country," Ambani said.

Jio is on track to cover the entire country by December this year.

With over 50 million 5G customers, Jio is already leading in 5G adoption in India, Ambani said.

"And we are the only company with the capacity to smoothly transition our entire 4G customer base to 5G, with minimal additional capital expenditure. With the growing adoption of Jio 5G, we are also seeing an increasing trend of high-ARPU, post-paid customers choosing Jio as their preferred network," Ambani said. (Agencies)