Today marks the 92nd birth anniversary of Dhirubhai Ambani aka Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, founder of Reliance Industries, a conglomerate with a massive turnover. If you live in India, you likely use one of the products or service of Reliance at least once or twice a day. December 28 is a special day for Indian business landscape, as it’s the birthday of two famous industrialists, Dhirubhai Ambani and Ratan Tata.
Dhirubhai was born on December 28, 1932, in Chorwad, Gujarat, to Hirachand and Jamnaben Ambani. In the 1950s, Dhirubhai Ambani began his career as a dispatch clerk at A. Besse & Co., an international trading company. As the company started working with Shell, Dhirubhai was promoted to manage a fuel station. Likewise, this sparked his dream of one day owning his own oil refinery. Dhirubhai married Kokilaben in 1955, and they had four children: Mukesh, Anil, Nina, and Dipti.
Dhirubhai Ambani: Key Moments That Shaped Reliance
- Dhirubhai had to leave school early due to financial difficulties. He began doing small jobs after 10th class to support his family, and that marked the beginning of his journey.
- At 17, Dhirubhai moved to Aden (Yemen) for work and started as a dispatch clerk at A. Besse & Co. He was soon promoted to manage an oil station at the port of Aden. This fuelled his dream of owning a refinery, which he later achieved with his petrochemicals business.
- In 1958, he returned to India and started a spice trading company called Reliance Commercial Corporation. Four years later, he shifted focus to yarn trading and renamed the company to Reliance Textile Industries Limited.
- In 1977, Reliance Textile Industries went public. The company’s initial public offering (IPO) was a huge success, marking a significant milestone for the Reliance group.
- In 1991, Dhirubhai entered into the petrochemicals industry and established Reliance Hazira, a massive project that was the largest private sector investment in India at that time.
- The company further expanded its presence with the launch of its Jamnagar facility in 1999.
Furthermore, after suffering a stroke in 1996, Dhirubhai handed over Reliance to his sons, Mukesh and Anil. He passed away on July 6, 2002, due to another severe stroke. However, the foundation he laid is the largest private sector company in India now.
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