Dhirubhai Ambani

The last time a bear attack was launched on a businessman gaining prominence rapidly was in the early 1980s when a cabal of brokers took on "an over-priced Reliance share", recalls T N Ninan

Mukesh Ambani, who took over the reins of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) after the sudden demise of his legendary industrialist father Dhirubhai Ambani, completes 20 years at the helm during which the company saw a 17-fold jump in revenues, 20-times surge in profit and has become a global conglomerate. Following Dhirubhai's death in 2002, Mukesh and his younger brother Anil assumed joint leadership of Reliance. While the elder brother took over as the chairman and managing director, Anil was named vice chairman and joint managing director. The brothers, however, feuded over control, leading to a split with Mukesh assuming control of the gas, oil, and petrochemicals units as RIL, while Anil got telecommunications, power generation, and financial services units through a demerger. In 20 years that Stanford University-drop out Mukesh, 65, has been at the helm of RIL, the company has re-entered the telecom business, diversified in retail and new energy, and raised a record Rs 2.5 lakh ..

Another key reason for the recent stock surge, according to analysts at Jefferies, is the hope that the government may withdraw export duties on diesel and aviation fuel

Succession planning in India Inc remains a clannish exercise

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari urged investors to invest more in infrastructure projects for good returns.

Singh, 64, had undergone kidney transplant in 2011 and was not keeping well for a long time. He was admitted to a hospital in Singapore some eight months ago

Reserved and mostly invisible to the public, Modi is viewed by many insiders and others in India's business world as the right hand of billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

The govt matters less in brand and tech businesses, where consumer preferences and the building of a franchise are autonomous of policy, though policy does help in some ways, writes T N Ninan

Says his group hopes to play a part in making India emerge as an economic super power over the next decade

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath dismissed the plea saying no 'public interest' was involved