BUSINESS KING DHIRUBHAI AMBANI THE MANAGEMENT GURU

BUSINESS KING DHIRUBHAI AMBANI THE MANAGEMENT GURU

Rising from a clerk in a British company in Aden, to the ‘prince of polyester’, to the uncrowned king of India Inc. and a Padma Vibhushan awardee, the senior Ambani lived a fascinating life, which was even adapted into the Bollywood blockbuster Guru by legendary director Mani Ratnam.

He exported ginger, cardamom, turmeric and other spices to the west Asian market where he had established links during his Aden stint, and then branched out into textiles and yarn in the early 1960s.

On his 86^th birth anniversary, ThePrint looks back at the story of how Ambani surpassed every established name in the business community in a matter of three decades.

Learning the ropes

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani was born on 28 December 1932 in Junagarh, modern-day Gujarat, to school teachers Jamnaben (known to be a thrifty homemaker) and Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani. A fierce independence activist in school, he was inspired by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Ambani wanted to go to college, but owing to his father’s ill-health, he was compelled to get a job in Aden, a former British colony on the Arabian peninsula, now the temporary capital of Yemen. He worked as a clerk at A. Besse & Co, and learnt the ropes of business.
He came back to India in 1954 after five years in Aden, as a promoter for A. Besse & Co.’s shell refinery. Having married Kokilaben, he then decided to try his hand at trading. Although Ambani was tempted to set up shop in London, he finally decided to establish a business in what was then Bombay.
With the little money he had, Ambani decided to venture into spice trading, and soon, the orders began flowing in from Yemen. He then expanded the trade to include other commodities, including manure-mixed topsoil for a sheikh’s lawn.

“We made big money from that order, real big money,” Ámbani was quoted as saying.

Reliance Industries

After Partition, the textile industry in India had come to a standstill, as the major cotton producing regions were in Pakistan while the cotton mills were in Bombay.
While Ambani was exporting spices to Yemen, he gained an export replenishment licence, which he then used to import polyester yarn into India due to the dearth of fabric in India. At first, he sold the imported polyester yarn in Bombay markets at premiums ranging up to 300 per cent. He then realised that there was more profit in selling value-added nylon textiles.



Ambani decided to set up a fabrics business with his second cousin, Champaklal Damani, who lived in Turkey and imported the polyester yarn to Yemen. This is how Reliance was born in 1966. However, they soon parted ways due to ideological differences.
Reliance started producing nylon fabrics under the ‘Vimal’ name, which soon became one of the highest-selling fabric brands in the country. Reliance also received the award of excellence from the World Bank.