MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday issued a statement clarifying that chairman Mukesh Ambani and his family have “no plans whatsoever to relocate or reside in London or anywhere else in the world”.
This followed media reports that Asia’s richest man and his family members were going to divide time between India and the UK.
A recent report had suggested that the Ambanis were sprucing up their newly-acquired 300-acre property in Stoke Park, London, complete with a medical facility, and were expected to make it their primary residence.
“RIL group company, RIHL, which acquired Stoke Park estate recently, would like to clarify that its acquisition of the heritage property is aimed at enhancing this as a premier golfing and sporting resort, while fully complying with the planning guidelines and local regulations. This acquisition will add to the fast-growing consumer business of the group. Simultaneously, it will also expand the footprint of India’s hospitality industry globally,” RIL, India’s largest company in terms of market value, said in a statement.
It added that reports of the Ambani family planning to partly reside in Stoke Park has led to “unwarranted and baseless speculation in social media”.
This followed a report that the family would divide time between Antilla, their 27-storied property in South Mumbai, and the estate purchased by a subsidiary of RIL in the UK for 57 million pounds (Rs 592 crore) in April.
The newspaper report had said this is the first time the Ambanis were not celebrating Diwali in Mumbai and that the UK estate included a mandir, for which a Rajasthan sculptor had been roped in. Besides, it had said that a state-of-the-art medical facility had been set up, with doctors from Mumbai visiting the 300-acre Stoke Park to put it in place.
There have been reports that since the Covid-19 outbreak, Ambani and his family members have spent a large part of their time between Jamnagar, where RIL has a massive refinery and petrochemicals facility, Mumbai and London. Ambani had addressed RIL shareholders during the company’s annual general meeting in June this year from Jamnagar in Gujarat. After RIL bought Stoke Park, the chairman and his family’s London visits have been linked to them making Stoke Park their second abode.
RIL, however, did not comment on Ambanis’ reported frequent visits overseas.