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> a person who literally is the Government in India Out of the loop: can you clarify what you mean by this?

ra7 7y ago
I guess they mean Mukesh Ambani, who owns Jio and is the richest person in Asia, is a powerful player in Indian politics.
- nr152522 7y ago
  I believe Jack Ma is now the richest man in Asia. In fact, it’s probably really Ayatollah Khamenei :/
  - AsyncAwait 7y ago
    I somehow doubt Ayatollah Khamenei eclipsed the Saudis.
    - nr152522 7y ago
      Good point!
quantummkv 7y ago
The same old tired Illuminati/Soros/<Generic Rich Businessman owning the government> spiel repeated in all the countries across the globe.
a-ve 7y ago
It's mainly due to his disregard for any rules that may exist. The telecom regulator in India bent rules in favor of Jio: https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/policy/vodafone-group-ceo-terms-trai-predatory-pricing-rule-unfair/articleshow/63082025.cms https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/policy/vodafone-gro... Rs 11,000-Crore ONGC (state owned oil and gas corp) Gas Shifted to Reliance Industries Fields: https://www.ndtv.com/business/rs-11-000-crore-ongc-gas-shifted-to-reliance-industries-fields-d-m-1246122 https://www.ndtv.com/business/rs-11-000-crore-ongc-gas-shift... They literally took out full-page advertisements with Modi's image on it: https://thewire.in/economy/modi-reliance-jio-advertisement https://thewire.in/economy/modi-reliance-jio-advertisement
- searchableguy 7y ago
  It was on the TV too everywhere. All the damn time.
- TriNetra 7y ago
  You are over-blowing his control: My quick search brings following two things which is opposite to what this thread is claiming. 1. Reliance Jio may not be pleased with govt's spectrum moratorium to telcos: https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/telecom/why-reliance-jio-wont-happy-with-govts-moratorium-telcos/story/390780.html https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/telecom/why-reliance-ji... 2. India Trying to Stop Reliance From Selling Assets, Times Says: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/india-trying-to-stop-reliance-from-selling-assets-times-says https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/india-trying-to-stop...
  - a-ve 7y ago
    Telecoms in India are in a tremendous amount of debt. So much so, Vodafone and Idea had to merge but still they have immense financial problems. They are asking for the moratorium because Jio gave away their services for free, undercutting every player there is and the telecom regulator did nothing about it. WRT your first link, it was posted on November 21, 2019. This year the Supreme Court ordered the telecoms to pay their dues: https://m.economictimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/sc-directs-telecoms-to-deposit-dues-by-march-17/articleshow/74129276.cms https://m.economictimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/sc... As to your second link (Dec 23, 2019), yes, the Govt. did try to stop the 20% sale to Aramco, but "Aramco officials and bankers on the deal have been working at Reliance’s offices in Mumbai" says otherwise: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/reliance-aramco-said-to-accelerate-refinery-stake-sale-talks https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/reliance-...
    - TriNetra 7y ago
      Regarding telcos dues, AFAIK those companies have been avoiding the dues for decades and they must be held accountable some day isn't it? I can't comment on whether or not TRI should have intervened when JIO started offering free services - if it was allowed as per the regulation intervening by TRI could have given a message that it was acting for protecting existing players and if it wasn't allowed by regulations, Telcos would have gone to court. Regarding the on-going talks of selling asset, since court has already ordered Reliance to reveal assets, they just can't do away with whatever is the liability set. Indian court system is not a joke. My original point was that Reliance or Mukesh do not rule India; yes they are clever and do lobbying as any other capitalist does but they don't control the nation or gov.
vegiraghav 7y ago
Well Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of $50 billion, is the son of Dirubhai Ambani. Like father son too has all political parties in his pockets, be it the congress or BJP or other parties in India. Word is since Modi didnt coorperate in something with Mukesh, he literally sabotaged an alliance they had in the state of Maharashtra, to screw Modi's party over and stiched up an alliance of political rivals.
- blueblisters 7y ago
  It's one thing of accusing him of cronyism. It's another to accuse him of swaying elections for political convenience.
  - mayankkaizen 7y ago
    Practically everyone would believe this story in real life. Such is the image of Mukesh Ambani in India. He is not Warren Buffett type of billionaire, that is for sure.
- newyankee 7y ago
  Dhirubhai Ambani practiced Jugaad, something which was necessary in license permit Raj. Even average Indians understand the nuance in this and how difficult it was to conduct business in that era.
  - intended 7y ago
    Let’s not call it jugaad. It was corruption and a lesson on how stupid laws force people to find an illegal way to do things that should be legal. The reason reliance gets shit though is not because of corruption - Reliance is fundamentally a predatory firm.
taikawatiti 7y ago
It means he is "literally" the government of India. What part was unclear? This is HN, where JavaScript framework enthusiasts and css programmers philosophise and are experts on everything. Don't try to make too much sense
sbmthakur 7y ago
Jio's parent company is Reliance Industries which is run by the richest family in India. So the usual rich people bad is the reasoning here. In reality, all rules are applied to Jio just like they are applied to other companies. I know this because I have worked there for a while.
a-ve 7y ago
Mukesh Ambani once said to the son of the previous BJP PM that Congress (the previous ruling party) is his own private shop. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/kya-congress-mukesh-ambani-ki-dukaan-hai/282815 https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/kya-congress-muke...
- sbmthakur 7y ago
  Well, he did openly support a Congress candidate in national elections.
balladeer 7y ago
(Let's assume) You have followed US policy making, lobbying and stuff like how a coccus of ultra rich people/execs are actually running the Govt from behind the curtain and all that. So when you read all that that usually means the groups do that to different parties i.e maybe one group does that to the republicans and another to the democrats. (Now enter India) This guy alone pretty much controls the Govt of India and its decisions irrespective of the party, more so with this current right wing Govt (they are like family). If you read a bit, there are Govt decisions that look like this: Let's say there are couple of shops in a village. One of those is billionaire's shop. This is a very famous village market among neighbouring villages. Business is good, especially at night (some famous fair/shrine or whatever). There's the huge high central light in the village square - this is the only light that keeps the market area lit. Now the village head decides he needs to shift the light to a better location so that it will be used even better, especially for the nightly shopping. Fair. Great idea! So he makes a declaration that the village assembly has taken an unanimous decision to move the light to the inside of billionaire's shop so that it is better for the villagers and all the shop keepers in the village. And the best part is the villagers cheer this decision and run after anyone who even has a doubt about this decision let alone an objection. However if the next time this right wing Govt loses (which seems highly unlikely the way this party/Govt has consolidated power) he might be in trouble but I doubt that would be something he can't handle or hasn't handled before.
- newyankee 7y ago
  Sonia Gandhi literally uses Reliance Jets for her personal sojourns. You are dreaming if you think Mukesh Ambani and Congress are antithetical, in fact funnily i would argue he is closer to the Congress dispensation than BJP.
  - mayankkaizen 7y ago
    Where did OP say anything about Congress vs Ambani? At best he hinted that Ambani is closer to Modi which is not that unexpected. Of course, no government has ever been 'unfriendly' to Ambani. They are all benefiting from one another.
psankar 7y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukesh_Ambani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukesh_Ambani is the most powerful person in India. More important than the Prime minister or President. He decides who becomes the prime minister, what news people will consume, etc. He owns everything from oil refineries, infrastructure companies, telecom companies, power companies, entertainment companies, news companies etc. He is the wealthiest person in India and one of world's richest.
mayankkaizen 7y ago
Just a tangential story. Few years back there was this 'news' that Mukesh Amabani's son had killed 2 person in a car accident. Now you can't find any link in any major news website https://thewire.in/business/anant-ambani-memes-reliance-industries https://thewire.in/business/anant-ambani-memes-reliance-indu...

ra7 7y ago

I guess they mean Mukesh Ambani, who owns Jio and is the richest person in Asia, is a powerful player in Indian politics.

nr152522 7y ago
I believe Jack Ma is now the richest man in Asia. In fact, it’s probably really Ayatollah Khamenei :/
- AsyncAwait 7y ago
  I somehow doubt Ayatollah Khamenei eclipsed the Saudis.
  - nr152522 7y ago
    Good point!

quantummkv 7y ago

The same old tired Illuminati/Soros/<Generic Rich Businessman owning the government> spiel repeated in all the countries across the globe.

a-ve 7y ago

It's mainly due to his disregard for any rules that may exist. The telecom regulator in India bent rules in favor of Jio: https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/policy/vodafone-group-ceo-terms-trai-predatory-pricing-rule-unfair/articleshow/63082025.cms https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/policy/vodafone-gro... Rs 11,000-Crore ONGC (state owned oil and gas corp) Gas Shifted to Reliance Industries Fields: https://www.ndtv.com/business/rs-11-000-crore-ongc-gas-shifted-to-reliance-industries-fields-d-m-1246122 https://www.ndtv.com/business/rs-11-000-crore-ongc-gas-shift... They literally took out full-page advertisements with Modi's image on it: https://thewire.in/economy/modi-reliance-jio-advertisement https://thewire.in/economy/modi-reliance-jio-advertisement

searchableguy 7y ago
It was on the TV too everywhere. All the damn time.
TriNetra 7y ago
You are over-blowing his control: My quick search brings following two things which is opposite to what this thread is claiming. 1. Reliance Jio may not be pleased with govt's spectrum moratorium to telcos: https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/telecom/why-reliance-jio-wont-happy-with-govts-moratorium-telcos/story/390780.html https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/telecom/why-reliance-ji... 2. India Trying to Stop Reliance From Selling Assets, Times Says: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/india-trying-to-stop-reliance-from-selling-assets-times-says https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/india-trying-to-stop...
- a-ve 7y ago
  Telecoms in India are in a tremendous amount of debt. So much so, Vodafone and Idea had to merge but still they have immense financial problems. They are asking for the moratorium because Jio gave away their services for free, undercutting every player there is and the telecom regulator did nothing about it. WRT your first link, it was posted on November 21, 2019. This year the Supreme Court ordered the telecoms to pay their dues: https://m.economictimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/sc-directs-telecoms-to-deposit-dues-by-march-17/articleshow/74129276.cms https://m.economictimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/sc... As to your second link (Dec 23, 2019), yes, the Govt. did try to stop the 20% sale to Aramco, but "Aramco officials and bankers on the deal have been working at Reliance’s offices in Mumbai" says otherwise: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/reliance-aramco-said-to-accelerate-refinery-stake-sale-talks https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/reliance-...
  - TriNetra 7y ago
    Regarding telcos dues, AFAIK those companies have been avoiding the dues for decades and they must be held accountable some day isn't it? I can't comment on whether or not TRI should have intervened when JIO started offering free services - if it was allowed as per the regulation intervening by TRI could have given a message that it was acting for protecting existing players and if it wasn't allowed by regulations, Telcos would have gone to court. Regarding the on-going talks of selling asset, since court has already ordered Reliance to reveal assets, they just can't do away with whatever is the liability set. Indian court system is not a joke. My original point was that Reliance or Mukesh do not rule India; yes they are clever and do lobbying as any other capitalist does but they don't control the nation or gov.

vegiraghav 7y ago

Well Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of $50 billion, is the son of Dirubhai Ambani. Like father son too has all political parties in his pockets, be it the congress or BJP or other parties in India. Word is since Modi didnt coorperate in something with Mukesh, he literally sabotaged an alliance they had in the state of Maharashtra, to screw Modi's party over and stiched up an alliance of political rivals.

blueblisters 7y ago
It's one thing of accusing him of cronyism. It's another to accuse him of swaying elections for political convenience.
- mayankkaizen 7y ago
  Practically everyone would believe this story in real life. Such is the image of Mukesh Ambani in India. He is not Warren Buffett type of billionaire, that is for sure.
newyankee 7y ago
Dhirubhai Ambani practiced Jugaad, something which was necessary in license permit Raj. Even average Indians understand the nuance in this and how difficult it was to conduct business in that era.
- intended 7y ago
  Let’s not call it jugaad. It was corruption and a lesson on how stupid laws force people to find an illegal way to do things that should be legal. The reason reliance gets shit though is not because of corruption - Reliance is fundamentally a predatory firm.

taikawatiti 7y ago

It means he is "literally" the government of India. What part was unclear? This is HN, where JavaScript framework enthusiasts and css programmers philosophise and are experts on everything. Don't try to make too much sense

sbmthakur 7y ago

Jio's parent company is Reliance Industries which is run by the richest family in India. So the usual rich people bad is the reasoning here. In reality, all rules are applied to Jio just like they are applied to other companies. I know this because I have worked there for a while.

a-ve 7y ago

Mukesh Ambani once said to the son of the previous BJP PM that Congress (the previous ruling party) is his own private shop. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/kya-congress-mukesh-ambani-ki-dukaan-hai/282815 https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/kya-congress-muke...

sbmthakur 7y ago
Well, he did openly support a Congress candidate in national elections.

balladeer 7y ago

(Let's assume) You have followed US policy making, lobbying and stuff like how a coccus of ultra rich people/execs are actually running the Govt from behind the curtain and all that. So when you read all that that usually means the groups do that to different parties i.e maybe one group does that to the republicans and another to the democrats. (Now enter India) This guy alone pretty much controls the Govt of India and its decisions irrespective of the party, more so with this current right wing Govt (they are like family). If you read a bit, there are Govt decisions that look like this: Let's say there are couple of shops in a village. One of those is billionaire's shop. This is a very famous village market among neighbouring villages. Business is good, especially at night (some famous fair/shrine or whatever). There's the huge high central light in the village square - this is the only light that keeps the market area lit. Now the village head decides he needs to shift the light to a better location so that it will be used even better, especially for the nightly shopping. Fair. Great idea! So he makes a declaration that the village assembly has taken an unanimous decision to move the light to the inside of billionaire's shop so that it is better for the villagers and all the shop keepers in the village. And the best part is the villagers cheer this decision and run after anyone who even has a doubt about this decision let alone an objection. However if the next time this right wing Govt loses (which seems highly unlikely the way this party/Govt has consolidated power) he might be in trouble but I doubt that would be something he can't handle or hasn't handled before.

newyankee 7y ago
Sonia Gandhi literally uses Reliance Jets for her personal sojourns. You are dreaming if you think Mukesh Ambani and Congress are antithetical, in fact funnily i would argue he is closer to the Congress dispensation than BJP.
- mayankkaizen 7y ago
  Where did OP say anything about Congress vs Ambani? At best he hinted that Ambani is closer to Modi which is not that unexpected. Of course, no government has ever been 'unfriendly' to Ambani. They are all benefiting from one another.

psankar 7y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukesh_Ambani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukesh_Ambani is the most powerful person in India. More important than the Prime minister or President. He decides who becomes the prime minister, what news people will consume, etc. He owns everything from oil refineries, infrastructure companies, telecom companies, power companies, entertainment companies, news companies etc. He is the wealthiest person in India and one of world's richest.

mayankkaizen 7y ago

Just a tangential story. Few years back there was this 'news' that Mukesh Amabani's son had killed 2 person in a car accident. Now you can't find any link in any major news website https://thewire.in/business/anant-ambani-memes-reliance-industries https://thewire.in/business/anant-ambani-memes-reliance-indu...