After the cut up between the Ambani brothers, Anil Ambani‘s journey took a dramatic and tough flip. As soon as commanding a glittering enterprise empire, he quickly discovered himself caught in a storm of debt defaults, monetary losses and insolvency proceedings. Firms that have been as soon as family names — Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy, and Reliance Infrastructure — started to unravel underneath the burden of mounting liabilities and regulatory setbacks.
Thursday’s Enforcement Directorate raids at quite a few areas and on quite a lot of corporations linked to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group comes as the most recent setback to the enterprise home at a time when it was trying to get again on its ft after years of transferring from one disaster to a different. Over the previous two-three years, the Reliance Group appeared to begin on a revival journey, with a concentrate on sectors like clear power, infrastructure, and defence. It stays to be seen whether or not the Reliance Group will have the ability to keep the course it had charted for itself, or be derailed but once more.
By 2017–2018, many of those corporations had both entered chapter or confronted extreme misery. Reliance Communications – which had a market capitalisation of Rs 1.5 lakh crore at its peak in 2007 — ceased cellular operations in 2019 after submitting for chapter, burdened by an unmanageable debt of Rs 46,000 crore. Reliance Capital, a number one NBFC of its time, defaulted on over Rs 40,000 crore and finally misplaced its insurance coverage and asset administration companies — Nippon of Japan took over the asset administration and life insurance coverage companies of the group, whereas the final insurance coverage arm and Reliance Capital have been acquired by the Hinduja-led IndusInd group by means of the decision course of.
In June this yr, the State Financial institution of India (SBI) formally labelled Reliance Communications’ mortgage account as “fraudulent,” alleging fund diversion that traces again to 2016.
Reliance Naval, acquired by the Reliance Group in 2015, was tasked with constructing 5 offshore patrol vessels underneath a Rs 2,500 crore defence deal. After years of delays and monetary setbacks, the Navy cancelled the mission in 2020, citing failure to fulfill deadlines. With over Rs 7,000 crore in debt and no restructuring plan, the corporate entered chapter in 2020. In December 2022, Swan Power took over its belongings by means of the insolvency course of.
Because the monetary empire crumbled, the group sought to restructure its remaining belongings underneath India’s Insolvency and Chapter Code. Some companies have been wound up, others dissolved or bought off, whereas a couple of discovered respiration room to regroup. Anil Ambani himself give up from the boards of assorted group corporations together with Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Energy. In truth, not one of the members of the family are on the boards of main group corporations. Tina Ambani is on the board of Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd.
In August 2024, the Securities and Alternate Board of India (SEBI) too imposed a 5‑yr ban on Anil Ambani and 24 different entities from taking part within the securities market. He was additionally hit with a Rs 25 crore penalty (roughly $3 million) for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to siphon off funds from Reliance House Finance Ltd (RHFL) through unsafe basic‑goal working capital loans to entities linked to the promoters.
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Final month on June 13, State Financial institution of India categorised Reliance Communications together with promoter director Anil D Ambani as ‘fraud’ and on Monday the Parliament was knowledgeable that it was within the means of lodging a grievance with the CBI. The entities have been categorised as fraud in accordance with the RBI’s Grasp Instructions on Fraud Danger Administration and Financial institution’s Board-approved Coverage on Classification, Reporting & Administration of Frauds, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary mentioned in a written reply within the Lok Sabha
Infra, energy revival plans
From 2022 onward, the Anil Ambani group started a cautious, if bold, try at revival– pivoting in direction of clear power, infrastructure, and defence manufacturing. This new technique positioned sustainability and know-how at its core, with a renewed concentrate on solar energy and battery power storage. The group’s revival plan is led by energy and infrastructure arms.
Reliance Energy has an working portfolio of 5,305 MW, that features 3960 MW Sasan Energy Restricted (world’s largest built-in coal-based energy plant). Following Reliance Energy’s achievement of zero debt, Rosa Energy, which operates a 1,200 MW coal-based thermal energy plant in UP, is now on monitor to turn into debt-free. The corporate goals to settle its remaining debt within the subsequent quarter, finishing the method earlier than the top of the present monetary yr.
It’s now planning to take a position over Rs 10,000 crore in a solar energy plant and an built-in photo voltaic manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh. Reliance Energy made a revenue of Rs 2,947 crore in FY24 and Rs 44.79 crore within the June quarter of FY26.
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Reliance Infrastructure, as soon as weighed down by debt, reported zero standalone web debt by FY 2025 and posted a web revenue of Rs 216 crore in This autumn of FY25 as in opposition to a lack of Rs 3,202 crore in Q3 of FY25. India Scores not too long ago upgraded Reliance Infra’s ranking from D to B, pointing to the well timed servicing of standalone debt obligations for 3 consecutive months ended 30 June 2025.
Nonetheless, it mentioned Reliance Infra continues to face elevated group-level threat as a result of monetary misery in a number of subsidiaries. The corporate now operates by means of a diversified community of particular goal autos (SPVs) throughout vital development sectors resembling energy, roads, metro rail, airports, and defence.
Throughout FY25 and 1QFY26, Reliance Infra made vital progress in resolving legacy monetary obligations arising from company ensures and different liabilities.
Reliance Energy shares noticed a 121 per cent rally from the 52-week low, signalling renewed investor curiosity. Nonetheless, promoter holding in Reliance Infra stays modest at simply 19.05 per cent, reflecting continued capital dilution and monetary restructuring. Reliance Infra and Reliance Energy — the 2 main listed entities — have a market capitalisation of Rs 14,262 crore and Rs 24,690 crore respectively now.
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At its peak in 2008 earlier than numerous corporations collapsed, the group had a market capitalisation of Rs 3.45 lakh crore.
Reacting to the ED raids, Reliance Infra and Reliance Energy mentioned in similarly-worded statements that the ED’s actions “have completely no influence on the enterprise operations, monetary efficiency, shareholders, staff, or another stakeholders”, and that the businesses don’t have any enterprise or monetary linkage to Reliance Communications and Reliance House Finance, that are purportedly on the centre of the ED’s motion.
Aerospace and defence: Massive plans however miles to go
Within the aerospace sector, the group had earlier fashioned Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) in 2017, a three way partnership with France’s Dassault Aviation underneath the offset obligations of the Rafale fighter jet deal. Whereas DRAL did ship aerostructure elements—resembling cockpit assemblies—for Falcon 2000 jets, its function remained modest, accounting for less than a small a part of the full offset worth. Plans are actually afoot to deepen the partnership between Dassault and the Reliance Group, with plans to fabricate the previous’s enterprise jets in India.
Dassault and Reliance Group introduced final month that DRAL will probably be organising a ultimate meeting line (FAL) for manufacturing the Falcon 2000 jets at Nagpur. The primary made-in-India Falcon 2000 jet is predicted to be prepared by 2028. This would be the first occasion of Dassault manufacturing the favored enterprise jet outdoors France. The made-in-India jets will cater to rising enterprise jet demand in India and worldwide markets, in accordance with the companions.
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At Mihan, Nagpur, DRAL has a producing facility for making numerous sections of Dassault’s best-selling enterprise government jet–the Falcon 2000. Since delivering its first Falcon 2000 entrance part in 2019, DRAL has assembled over 100 main sub-sections for the Falcon 2000. Whereas Dassault and the Reliance Group haven’t spelt out the capability of the Falcon 2000 manufacturing facility at Nagpur, however sources within the know indicated that it might be as much as 24 plane a yr. This might be the first-ever occasion of a overseas plane producer organising an FAL in India for fixed-wing civilian plane.
Over time, nonetheless, Dassault’s newer defence partnerships have more and more leaned towards different Indian gamers like Tata, signalling a lowered reliance on the Anil Ambani group on this area.
The group not too long ago introduced huge plans within the ammunition phase additionally. In June 2025, Reliance Defence fashioned a strategic partnership with Diehl Defence of Germany to fabricate Vulcano 155 mm precision-guided artillery shells domestically. In Could 2025, the group signed an settlement with Rheinmetall AG, one other main German defence producer to provide explosives and propellants for medium and large-calibre ammunition.
Regardless of years of economic turbulence, the group has proven indicators of resilience and reinvention. Although a lot of the unique empire lies dismantled, a leaner, extra targeted Anil Ambani Group is making an attempt to chart a comeback—anchored in power, infrastructure, and defence, but nonetheless shadowed by its legacy of debt and regulatory scrutiny.