Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power Shares Jump Over 8% in a Day After Repayment Proposal to Banks

Shares of Reliance Power Ltd surged sharply in Wednesday’s trading session, rising more than 8% after reports emerged that Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani has proposed a staggered repayment plan to settle bank dues linked to the fraud case involving Reliance Communications (RCom). The stock closed at ₹23.13 on the NSE, gaining ₹1.73 or 8.08% from the previous close of ₹21.40, reflecting renewed investor interest in the company. The rally followed a Bloomberg report stating that Ambani, through his lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, offered to begin direct discussions with lender banks as a first step toward repaying outstanding dues. Rohatgi informed the court that banks had so far been reluctant to engage because of the ongoing investigation into the case.

During the hearing, the bench led by the Chief Justice of India clarified that the court had not barred any such discussions between Ambani and the banks. However, the Supreme Court of India also noted that repayment alone would not resolve the criminal aspects of the case. The Solicitor General of India, appearing on behalf of federal investigative agencies, opposed the proposal and argued that settling dues cannot substitute a criminal investigation. The court reviewed the progress of the probe and scheduled the next hearing in four weeks, while reiterating its expectation of a fair and time-bound investigation.

The investigation is being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), following allegations of fraud, criminal conspiracy, and corruption involving loans taken by RCom and its affiliates between 2010 and 2012. According to investigators, the companies had borrowed more than ₹40,000 crore from domestic and overseas lenders during that period, with five of the loan accounts later declared fraudulent by banks. The probe began after a complaint by State Bank of India and was later expanded to include complaints from Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of Baroda, and Bank of India, as highlighted in the court’s review of the CBI’s status report.

Market participants said the sharp jump in Reliance Power shares reflects optimism that any progress toward resolving the long-running debt issues linked to the Reliance Group could improve investor sentiment around the company’s prospects. Ambani’s letter also highlighted the financial challenges faced by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, noting that around ₹15,000 crore worth of group assets have been seized. He said the group had been impacted by two major systemic crises — the collapse of India’s telecom sector following the Supreme Court’s judgement in the 2G Spectrum Case in 2012, and the liquidity crisis triggered by the collapse of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) in 2018, which caused a sector-wide funding freeze across NBFCs and housing finance companies