The Hindu Business Line : We missed the IT bus: Mukesh Ambani

IF IT is a Rs 1,00,000-crore conglomerate today, it must surely have taken all the right decisions. Not always, according to the Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman, Mr Mukesh Ambani.

In the early 90s, when Reliance had concentrated all its energies in the petrochemicals sector, one opportunity, that of information technology, did slip by. "Three out of the top five IT companies had approached us for a tie-up at that time. But we were focused on the petroleum sector and hence we missed the opportunity. That is one regret I still have," Mr Ambani told students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad recently. Mr Ambani was speaking at `Confluence - 2005', a four-day conclave of management students at the institute.

Mr Ambani said in future, Reliance's focus would be on biotech and agriculture sectors. Technology is playing a vital role in the economy, he said, adding that biotechnology and genome research could emerge as the next big areas for business. On its bread and butter petroleum and petrochemicals business, the Reliance Chairman said that the east coast presents tremendous opportunities for oil and gas exploration.

Reliance has discovered large quantities of gas in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin and is among the pioneering companies in deep-sea exploration, he said.

Value-based reforms needed: Speaking on the occasion, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Chandrababu Naidu, said that if India was to emerge as a developed nation by 2020, there was a need for value-based reforms in all set-up — from political to judicial. While there was no doubt that India would achieve rapid economic growth in the coming years, the economic growth and reforms must be accompanied by the values being preserved.

"India is not a poor country, we have made it poor," he said. But Mr Naidu was more optimistic about the future. "Twenty years ago, there was only frustration in store for someone dreaming big. But the country is more enterprising now and this is the right time for you to dream big and realise your dreams," he told the students.

Youth-asset: Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Chairman and Group Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises, was equally confident about the youth of the country being its biggest asset. "At present, 58 per cent of India's population is under 20. In the decades to come, we will have a young working population of 842 million people, which will also be major consumers. India will be a continent of workers and consumers," Mr Mittal said.

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