From Bhajias to Reliance – Dhirubhai Ambani
From Bhajias to
Reliance – Dhirubhai Ambani
Basic English
Dhirajlal
Hirachand Amban Introduction
Dhirajlal
Hirachand Ambani, popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani (28
December 1932 – 6 July 2002) was a successful Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries. Ambani took Reliance public in 1977 and was worth US$ 2.9 Billion in 2002 upon his death. In 2016, he was honoured
posthumously (after the death of the originator) with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour for his
contributions to trade and industry.
Born
Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani
28 December 1932
Chorwad, Junagadh State, British India
(present-day Gujarat, India)
Died
July 6, 2002 (aged 69)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality
Indian
Occupation Founder of Reliance Industries (RIL)
Founder of Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure & Reliance Power
(Which
were later carved out)
Awards
Padma Vibhushan (2016)
Reliance is the
first Indian company to feature in Forbes 500 list. Dhirubhai Ambani was
the most enterprising Indian entrepreneur. His life journey is reminiscent of
the rags to riches story. He is remembered as the one who rewrote Indian
corporate history and built a truly global corporate group.
Basic English
From Bhajias to Reliance:
Dhirubhai Ambani Summary
Dhirubhai Ambani was born on
December 28, 1932 at Chorwad, Gujarat to a school teacher. The young Dhirubhai
reportedly began his entrepreneurial career by selling bhajias to
pilgrims at the holy place of Mount Girnar in Gujarat on weekends and holidays.
After completing his high school education at the age of sixteen, Ambani left
his village and family and went to Aden, Yemen, in search of a living.
He worked there as a gas station
attendant and then a dispatch clerk for A. Besse & Co. Eventually he was
promoted to maintain and manage the company’s oil filling station port in Aden.
After nearly ten years stay in Yemen Ambani returned to India in 1958 with
fifty thousand rupees with the ambition to start business of his own. Initially
Ambani founded a company with two assistants to help him that imported and
exported spices.
Over the time, the company
expanded to import and export rayon and nylon, which earned him profits. This
venture initiated him to start textile business. He set up his own
textile-manufacturing unit in Naroda, Ahmedabad. Later he founded Reliance
Industries.
Dhirubhai Ambani successfully
built Reliance India Limited (RIL) from scratch. He is credited with
shaping India’s equity culture, attracting millions of investors into the
share- market until then it was dominated by Financial Institutions. He
single-handedly revolutionized capital markets. Started from scratch, he
generated billions of rupees in wealth for those who put trust in his companies.
Under the tenure of Dhirubhai
Ambani, Reliance Industries became the first private sector company to hold its
annual meetings inside a stadium. He had the ability to convince people to
become shareholders and in 1986, as many as 3,50,000 shareholders, who attended
the annual General Body Meeting. Over the passage of time, his business
diversified from textiles to a core specialization in petrochemicals with
additional interests in telecommunications, information technology, energy,
power, retail business, infrastructure services, capital markets and logistics.
Reliance became the first Indian
company to raise money in global markets, its high credited rating in
international markets limited only by India sovereign rating. Reliance also
became the first Indian company to feature in the prestigious Forbes 500 list.
The
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) honoured
Dhirubhai Ambani as the ‘Indian entrepreneur of the 20th century’. A
public opinion poll conducted by The Times of India in 2000 voted him
‘the greatest creator of wealth in India in the 20th Century’. He said of
his entrepreneurship, “Think big, think fast, and think ahead. Ideas are no
one’s monopoly.” He died on July 6th, 2002 at Mumbai.
Basic English
From Bhajias to Reliance –
Dhirubhai Ambani Explanation
One of the greatest
Industrialists as well greatest Indian tycoons in Indian history, Dhirajlal
Hirachand Dhirubhai Ambani’s success story will continue to inspire the coming
generations. He was born on December 28, in the year 1932. at Chorwad, Gujarat,
into a Modh family. His father was a school teacher.
He was a mature and intelligent boy. He would
prefer to work rather than attend school lessons. Once when his mother asked
him if would help his father earn money he replied to her saying “Why do you
keep screaming for money? I will make heaps of money one day.
Dhirubhai Ambani started his entrepreneurial
career by selling "bhajias" to pilgrims in Mount Girnar over the
weekends and in his village fairs to make ends meet at home. Ambani completed
his matriculation at the age of 16 and moved to Aden now it is Yemen. At the
age of 17 to hunt for some jobs and soon, he started working as a
gas-station attendant for a salary of Rs 200 per month. And he also worked as a
clerk in an oil company.
This was the time period
which brought about an idea in his mind to set up an oil refinery in India.
Certainly, he had no idea that he was going to change the face of Indian oil
refinery. He once bought a tin of groundnut oil on credit from a local
wholesaler and sold the oil in retail on the roadside. The little profit he
received after selling that oil in retail gave him great elation he started
doing many little things to earn a living for his family. The way he’s risen
against all the odds and a ttained immortality in his field is something
everybody should take notice and stand up and applaud (app/laud).
He had nothing when he
started off his trip to Yemen, but by the time he came back, he had an idea in
his mind, which he materialised with great amount of hard work. With a net
worth of around $60 Billion, He returned to India in 1958 with Rs 50,000 and
set up a textile trading company in Ahmednagar, along with his cousin,
Champaklal Damani Though his businesses were a huge success, there were also
issues regarding Ambani’s control over stock exchange.
The founder of Reliance
Industries started with Rs 50,000 and two assistants. In just three decades,
the combined fortune of the family was over 60 billion USD. He passed away on
July 6, 2002 in Mumbai. The first office of the Reliance group was set up in a
350-square-foot room with one table, three chairs and a telephone initially;
Ambani had only two assistants to help him
It is said that Ambani used to export goods like
spices and rayon at a loss, but also used to import nylon, earning a profit of
approximately 300 per cent Under the tenure of Dhirubhai Ambani, Reliance
Industries became the first private sector company to hold its annual meetings
inside stadiums. He had the ability to convince people to become shareholders
and in 1986, as many as 350,000 shareholders attended the Annual General
Meeting in Cross Maidan. Dhirubhai later expanded his business into
petrochemicals, telecommunications, information technology, energy, retail,
capital markets, power, textiles, etc
A Hindi film Guru, directed by Mani Ratnam,
is said to be inspired by his life
His awards include the
ABLF Global Asian Award, Man of the Century award by Chemtech Foundation and
Chemical Engineering World, the most powerful people in Asia by Asiaweek
magazine, the "Dean's Medal" by Wharton School, Economic Times Awards
for Corporate Excellence for Lifetime Achievement, the "Man of 20th
Century" title by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) and "Greatest Creator of Wealth in the Centuries" by
the Times of India.
What happened later after
he set up Reliance industries is something we all know, but his humble
beginnings are something all aspiring entrepreneurs should know. He under stud
that business is nothing but the job of networking with people and considered
it as web of relationships and obligations. In addition to that he was a simple
man who made simple ideas into big business ventures. His named his first
textile brand “VIMAL” which was the name of his brother’s son and converted it
into a household name for clothes (Dhirubhai Ambani – End of an era, 2009).
He always believed in
‘actions speak louder than words’ and during his life he responded to all sorts
of sniping criticism with silence (Krishnamurthy, 2006). He believed that if
one had the determination and willingness to work, one could do wonders in
business as long as the integrity and honesty was maintained. He never cared
for what the world or society had to say so long as he was convinced that the
idea would work.
Now we know the Ambanis
as the richest family in this beautiful country and they all owe a huge debt of
gratitude to Dhirubhai Ambani. Today Reliance Group of Industries
has assets valuing over 60 billion dollars with annual profits of over 45
billion dollars (Thakurta, 2003). It has now actively expanded into exploration
and production of oil and gas, to the manufacture of petroleum products,
polyester products, polyester intermediates, plastics, polymer intermediates,
chemicals, synthetic textiles, fabrics, communication, energy, infrastructure
entertainment, media and telecommunication (Tripathi, 2004).
After the death of
Dhirubhai in 2002, the company is being effectively managed by his two sons,
Mukesh and Anil Ambani.
Conclusion
Dhirubhai Ambani, was an
Indian Entrepreneur who reformed the thought process of doing business in
India. He inspired people to beat the system rather than be in the system if
one's dreams asked for it. Dhirubhai believed said “Only when you dream it you
can do it” and to “Think big, think fast, think ahead.
He always believed in
‘actions speak louder than words’ and during his life he responded to all sorts
of sniping criticism with silence (Krishnamurthy, 2006). He believed that if
one had the determination and willingness to work, one could do wonders in
business as long as the integrity and honesty was maintained.
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