Indian Business Tycoon

  


Think Big, Think Fast And Think Ahead.Ideas are no one’s monopoly.The above lines said by Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani say a lot about his personality. Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, one of the leading Indian businessmen, known as Dhirubhai legendary Indian business tycoon, was born on December 28, 1932 in Chorwad, Gujarat, into a Modh family of very moderate means. He was the second son of a school teacher.

Right from the childhood he showed his knack for entrepreneurship by undertaking small business activities and making money out of them .During weekends ,he started his entrepreneurial career by selling up onion/potato fries " bhajias" to pilgrims in Mount Girnar and at village fairs over the weekends. Ambani's his great achievement was that he showed Indians what was possible. With no Oxford or Yale degree and no family capital, he achieved what the Elite "brown sahibs" ofNew Delhi could not: he built an ultramodern, profitable, global enterprise in India itself.Dhirubhai has been one among the select Forbes billionaires and has also figured in the Sunday Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia.

At 16 he goes off to Aden to learn business.10 years later Dhirubai returned to India and starts a small company Reliance Commercial Corporation with a capital of Rs. 15,000.00. The primary business of Reliance Commercial Corporation was to import polyester yarn and export spices.Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants in the 1950s and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices. After making modest profits, he moved into textiles and opened his mill near Ahmedabad. Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1958. After that it was a saga of expansions and successes.

Reliance, acknowledged as one of the best-run companies in the world has various sectors like petrochemicals, textiles and is involved in the production of crude oil and gas, to polyester and polymer products. The companies refinery at Jamnagar accounts for over 25% of India's total refining capacity and their plant at Hazira is the biggest chemical complex in India. The company has further diversified into Telecom, Insurance and Internet Businesses, the Power Sector and so on. Now the Reliance group with over 85,000 employees provides almost 5% of the Central Government's total revenue. Reliance group had an annual turnover of Rs 70 crore and Dhirubhai had started the business with Rs.15,000.

Dhirubhai Ambani is credited with shaping India's equity culture, attracting millions of retail investors in a market till then dominated by financial institutions. Dhirubhai revolutionised capital markets. From nothing, he generated billions of rupees in wealth for those who put their trust in his companies. His efforts helped create an 'equity cult' in the Indian capital market. With innovative instruments like the convertible debenture, Reliance quickly became a favorite of the stock market in the 1980s. In 1992, Reliance became the first Indian company to raise money in global markets, its high credit-taking in international markets limited only by India's sovereign rating. Reliance also became the first Indian company to feature in Forbes 500 list.

Few more aabout legendary of Indian business

• The Hindi Film "Guru" inspired by Dhirubhai Ambani was released on 12 January 2007.
• 'Man of the Century' award by Chemtech Foundation and Chemical Engineering World in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the chemical industry in India in 2000.
• Featured among 'Power 50 - the most powerful people in Asia by Asiaweek magazin.(2000), (1998)and (1996).
• Dean's Medal by The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, for setting an outstanding example of leadership. Dhirubhai Ambani has the rare distinction of being the first Indian to get Wharton School Dean's Medal in 1998.
• Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence for Lifetime Achievement in 2001.
• Man of 20th Century by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
• "Greatest Creator of Wealth In The Centuries". He is the true son of India.' A poll conducted by The Times of India in 2000 voted him.

He died on July 6, 2002,His funeral procession was not only attended by business people, politicians and celebrities but also by thousands of ordinary people. Dhirubhai Ambani started his long journey in Bombay from the Mulji-Jetha Textile Market, where he started as a small-trader. "Dhirubhai Ambani's life is a rags-to-riches story, from Bombay's crowded pavements and bazaars to the city's extravagantly wealthy social circles where business tycoons, stockmarket speculators, smugglers, politicians and Hindi film stars mingle, make money, make and break marriages and carry out prolonged feuds-sometimes violent, often histrionic." "Until the arrival of Ambani, India's big business scene was dominated by a few industrial houses from British times.