'Some of us are Big Boys, We Can Afford It': Mukesh Ambani on Sunil Mittal's Claim of $50-billion Telco Write-Offs

New Delhi: Days after Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal accused Reliance Jio of ‘predatory pricing’, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said profits and losses are part of a business and ‘big boys’ should learn to afford that, particularly if it’s in larger interest of consumers.

In a newspaper interview earlier this week, Mittal had pegged telcos’ write-offs due to Jio’s historically low prices at $40-50 billion. “Having such a long, free promotional period and in some sense, decided by laws of the land in their favour, is unheard of. In Europe or the US, this would have been stopped. It would have been seen as predatory," Mittal had said.

On Friday, after his speech at Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Ambani was asked about his rival’s comment. “Sunil is a good friend of mine, he is not a rival," Ambani replied.

On further prodding, he said, “I think for all of us within the industry, profits and losses are risks that we take. I don’t think we can rely on regulators or governments to guarantee our profits or losses. To me what is most important is ‘Do we really move the country forward’ and ‘Does the consumer gain?’"

“Even if there are profits and losses, who gains and who loses? And as long as the consumer gains, and the country moves forward, it’s worth taking those losses," he said, adding, “Some of us are big boys, we can afford that."

When asked what money means to him, “not much," said Ambani with a smile. “I don’t have credit card. I don’t even carry cash. I always have someone around me who pays."

Earlier, in his speech, Ambani said, “Early adopters of each of these shifts will have the opportunity to leap-frog the competition, and create unprecedented societal value. Those who do not, will be out-competed. They will become irrelevant."

Inviting international investors to India, a bullish Ambani said, “Be a part of India’s rise, invest in India, earn in India, grow in India and prosper in India."

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