Anil Ambani eyes new health insurance business

MUMBAI: Reliance ADA Group chair man Anil Ambani on Tuesday unveiled ambitious expansion plans for various group companies on a day of shareholder meetings.

A separate company for health insurance business, participation in the spectrum auction and a 4G telecom fray for Reliance Communications, and a ` 50,000-crore investment plan for Reliance Power were among the announcements.

Addressing Reliance Capital shareholders at the annual general meeting, Ambani said the company intends to lay greater emphasis on health insurance business, which would be grown into a separate business in course.

Reliance Capital is interested in the housing finance space and aims to triple capital deployed there and will also look at options in the banking space, Ambani said.

At the AGM of Reliance Communications, Ambani said the company aims to cut its debt and participate in the next round of spectrum auction, which will help it launch 4G services. “We will participate in auctions next year and will be in a position to launch 4G services in 2015,” Ambani told shareholders.

If the plans materialise, Ambani will be directly competing with his elder brother Mukesh, whose Reliance Jio is expected to launch 4G services by March next year.

Reliance Communications has a debt of around ` 35,000 crore and Ambani said the aim is to bring it down to below ` 20,000 crore in the next 24 months.