Mukesh Ambani brushes aside Anil's olive branch

Anil Ambani sprang a surprise in India's biggest corporate battle on Sunday by making a public statement seeking a rapprochement with rival brother Mukesh, who heads Reliance Industries Ltd, just a week before the Supreme Court hears the dispute between the two brothers' companies over the price of gas from RIL's Krishna-Godavari Basin.

Although RIL's response was rather cool, it was enough to send the scrips of both companies soaring on Monday.

Having just returned from a pilgrimage of the Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath, Anil Ambani wrote in the statement, ''I am once again reaching out to Mukeshbhai - and hope and pray that my feelings will be reciprocated, and we will arrive at a solution to all outstanding issues, with a generous heart, a willing mind, and an accommodating spirit,'' Anil Ambani said in the statement.

''Even at this late stage, we can sort out all our disagreements in a constructive, cordial, and conciliatory manner, if we both commit to getting this done,'' he said. But he offered no fresh options while stating the dispute could be settled in weeks.

A late-night RIL statement however made it clear that there is little chance of a dramatic reconciliation. It said, ''RIL has always maintained that the dispute under litigation is not a family matter … vital national interests are involved and the interests of RIL's shareholders are also at stake.''

''The conduct of R-ADAG makes it difficult to believe that Shri Anil Ambani has had a change of heart. What is both saddening and perplexing is that he has once again sought to communicate through the public domain, whereas he could easily have contacted his elder brother directly,'' the RIL statement added.

The two groups together make up about 10 per cent of the market cap of all listed companies in India. Their interests stretch from petrochemicals to retail, telecom, power and finance among others.

Anil Ambani's move comes barely two days after his group company Reliance Infrastructure agreed ''under protest'' to pay a disputed marketing margin of 13 cents per million British thermal unit over and above the government-determined price of $4.20 per mmBtu for getting K-G D6 gas for its power plant in Andhra Pradesh.