If you don't like Reliance stock, just sell it off: Mukesh Ambani

MUMBAI: "IF you don’t like Reliance stock, sell it," an irate Mukesh Ambani told a shareholder pestering him about bonus shares at Thursday’s AGM. The shareholder argued that Mr Ambani is spending Rs 8,000 crore in building the world’s costliest house, another Rs 600 crore to gift an aircraft to his wife and when it comes to rewarding the shareholders through bonus issue, he turns a miser. Mr Ambani tried to pacify him but the shareholder warned Mr Ambani. The shareholder also alleged that Mr Ambani did not stick to his words and has not awarded a bonus despite having promised one in the past few AGMs. This further angered Ambani and he banged on the dais saying: “Don’t lie at a corporate AGM. This is not a political meeting. The proceedings of every year AGM is recorded and I never promised any bonus issue. It is a decision to be taken by the RIL board. Corporates mein aisa hi chalta hai... ” (This is the way corporates function).

Earlier while addressing the shareholders, Mr Ambani said: “All our businesses have delivered outstanding results and all shareholders have benefited significantly. Over the last five years, the market capitalisation has grown by 54% compounded per annum. This is a glowing assertion of our commitment to shareholder value creation. We have increased our dividend payout to 130%, amounting to Rs 1,631 crore.” Mukesh Ambani is against the idea of imposing windfall taxes on private refiners, reports Piyush Pandeyfrom Mumbai. Answering shareholders query at RIL’s 34th AGM, Mr. Ambani said: “We are governed by the production sharing contract (PSC). The higher the price of crude, the more government gets in form of profit petroleum. Besides all price increase also goes back to the government embedded in tax.” This was in response to worried shareholders who are concerned with the windfall taxes being imposed on RIL for spiralling global crude oil prices. At least half-a-dozen shareholders asked about the issue of windfall taxes being imposed on RIL as in the US. Left parties in India are demanding a tax on the windfall profits of private refiners to make up for the losses by the PSU oil firms for selling below cost price. A recent research report said: “With the subsidy problem getting bad, highly profitable private oil firms are being taxed to fund the subsidy bill cannot be ruled out.”