Reliance Industries Vice Chairman Anil Ambani on Monday night disassociated himself from virtually all the decisions taken by the board of directors of RIL, which met in Mumbai under chairmanship of his elder brother Mukesh Ambani, who was backed by the board.
"Anil completely disassociates himself from nearly all press releases (communicating decisions of RIL board) since they were not discussed or approved by him," a spokesperson for Anil said.
Sources in the Anil camp had suggested to his brother to hold a press conference but that was not agreed to.
While Anil had severely criticised the proposal for the buyback of shares minutes before the board meeting, RIL in a statement said the board had reaffirmed the investment of over Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) of the flagship company in the communications arm.
Sources said the younger brother had suggested that preference capital of Rs 8,100 crore (Rs 81 billion) of RIL in Reliance Infocomm be converted into equity at par in the interest of shareholders of the flagship company.
This, they said, would have raised the shareholding of RIL from 42 per cent to 75 per cent while diluting the equity of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Communication Infrastructure, the holding entity of Reliance Infocomm, to less than 25 per cent.
They said that Anil also opposed a proposed guarantee and loan of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) to Reliance Strategic Investment Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL, to acquire chemical company, NOCIL, belonging to Mafatlal group.