The Ambani chronicles — India’s fraudulent elites and the farce of accountability under BJP
Humayun Aziz Sandeela
When the State Bank of India (SBI) recently labeled the loan account of Reliance Communications (RCom) as “fraud” and announced it would report its former director, Anil Ambani, to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the move appeared significant. After all, it involved a man who was once the sixth richest person in the world. But if history is any guide, this may well be another act in the farcical drama of elite impunity in India—where fraud is not punished but normalized when committed by those close to power.
India’s two most politically connected industrialists—Mukesh and Anil Ambani—have long operated in a zone where institutional scrutiny rarely penetrates. Their fortunes may have diverged, but both have benefited from a system that rewards proximity to the establishment while shielding them from the consequences of wrongdoing.
Anil Ambani’s downfall is now textbook. According to a detailed exchange filing by SBI in June 2025, RCom and its subsidiaries took loans totaling ₹31,580 crore, a large portion of which was misused through a complex web of inter-company transactions and fund diversions. The bank cited forensic audit findings that pointed to the misutilisation of sanctioned loans, false invoicing, and transfers to connected parties. Canara Bank had already tagged RCom as a “fraudulent borrower” in September 2024 for similar reasons.
Reports published by NDTV and The Economic Times suggest that 44% of the loans were used to repay unrelated financial obligations, while another 41% were used to settle dues with group entities—entirely outside the scope of sanctioned purposes. Anil Ambani’s legal team argues that he was a non-executive director, not responsible for day-to-day decisions, and that due process was denied. But this script is wearing thin.
And this is not an isolated episode. As reported by Scroll.in and The Wire, other companies under Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group—Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, and Reliance Infrastructure—have faced regulatory bans, insolvency proceedings, and accusations of document forgery. In 2020, Anil Ambani even declared bankruptcy in a UK court after defaulting on $925 million in loans from Chinese banks, claiming he couldn’t pay even his legal fees.
Yet, India’s enforcement agencies have been unusually restrained. If the country’s legal machinery worked with impartiality, Anil Ambani wouldn’t merely be replying to bank notices—he’d be on trial for defrauding the public banking system.
But the true scandal lies not just in Anil’s collapse. It is in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s enduring patronage of Mukesh Ambani, whose companies—particularly Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail—have expanded unimpeded under state protection. The most damning instance of cronyism remains the Rafale fighter jet deal.
BREAKING 🚨 🇮🇷 Today, SBI has declared Anil Ambani’s RCom a fraud.
Modi gave Rafale contract to a fraud. pic.twitter.com/EqteiLMB8H
— Shruti Dhore (@ShrutiDhore) July 3, 2025
In 2015, the Bharatiya Janata party government under Prime Minister Modi unilaterally announced a new deal to purchase 36 Rafale jets from France during a state visit, scrapping a previous deal involving Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). In its place, Reliance Defence Limited, a company incorporated by Anil Ambani just 10 days before Modi’s announcement, was selected as the Indian offset partner for Dassault Aviation.
According to a Mediapart investigation published in 2018, then French President François Hollande confirmed that the Indian government “proposed” Reliance as the partner and that “we had no choice.” Dassault Aviation later admitted that the partnership was necessary “to meet offset obligations” under India’s defense procurement policy.
The Modi government stonewalled questions in Parliament and declined to share pricing details, citing national security. However, as Reuters reported, India ended up paying about €7.8 billion—significantly more per jet than under the previous arrangement with HAL. Independent defense analyst Ajai Shukla and even then-Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar raised concerns over pricing, procedural irregularities, and lack of transparency.
A report from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in 2019 defended the pricing but failed to examine the offset contracts in detail. Subsequent internal documents accessed by Mediapart revealed Dassault executives viewed the Reliance partnership as politically “mandatory” for sealing the deal.
While Anil Ambani’s reputation crumbled under a mountain of defaults and fraud charges, his brother Mukesh’s empire flourished—often with apparent institutional support. Reliance Jio was fast-tracked in licensing, benefited from favorable policy shifts, and quickly disrupted the telecom sector. Reliance Retail has absorbed competition with minimal regulatory friction.
This double standard reflects a deeper malaise: the industrial capture of Indian democracy. As seen repeatedly, enforcement institutions—ED, CBI, SEBI—are aggressively deployed against political dissenters but act with kid gloves when it comes to regime-friendly billionaires.
Even in the current RCom episode, Ambani’s lawyers argue the SBI’s show cause notice was based on now-superseded RBI guidelines and that no personal hearing was granted. This is despite the Supreme Court ruling of March 2023, which clearly stated that promoters must be given a hearing before being tagged as fraudsters.
As per court filings and SBI’s own disclosures, Ambani’s companies routed funds through opaque structures, misrepresented liabilities, and defaulted repeatedly. Yet, until public pressure mounts or international courts intervene, meaningful punishment remains elusive.
Let us not forget what this kind of fraud represents for ordinary Indians. Each bad loan and financial misrepresentation by corporate giants like the Ambanis worsens the burden of non-performing assets (NPAs) on public banks. These losses are socialized—paid for by taxpayers, depositors, and small borrowers who face far harsher penalties for far lesser offenses.
As reported by The Economic Times, the total exposure of banks to RCom alone was over ₹31,000 crore. According to the forensic audit cited by SBI, much of this money was never used for the intended business purposes. Instead, it was funneled through inter-company transactions to repay older debts or settle accounts within the group—an elaborate shell game.
Now that SBI has finally mustered the courage to name Ambani and RCom as fraudulent, the public must ask: will this lead to real accountability, or is it merely symbolic?
This saga is not merely about one disgraced tycoon. It is a case study in how crony capitalism corrodes institutions and how political patronage insulates the wealthy from justice. While citizens are told to tighten their belts and trust in reforms, India’s richest are allowed to rewrite rules, capture contracts, and manipulate markets.
Until the system treats financial crimes by billionaires with the same urgency as it treats dissent from activists or journalists, India’s democracy will remain an oligarchy with electoral rituals.
The Ambani chronicles must serve as a wake-up call. Fraud must not just be named. It must be punished—regardless of pedigree.
