Mukesh Ambani eyes another record

NEW DELHI: Size does matter when it comes to Reliance, be it the largest refinery in the world, the biggest SEZ in the country or simply an office complex. The Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries (RIL) is set to soon create yet another record by developing the largest single corporate office in the world, spanning over 2m sq ft in suburban Mumbai. The proposed Rs 150-crore office structure will be as large as four big-sized malls put together. It will headquarter RIL’s businesses of petroleum, retail and agriculture.

The office building, being built by Reliance Engineers Association, a group company which has developed many infrastructure projects of RIL, will be housed within a larger complex covering a total area of around 40m sq ft.

Sources in the know said that the dream project has drawn heavily from global corporate office structures like that of GE or Exxon Mobil in the US. The office complex, to be built on a theme titled ‘brilliance per square inch’, will include among other things a lake and a greenbelt. “The idea is to get the best brains in the country to share their ideas, and think together,” a source said.

Despite its growth and diversification into several business areas, RIL is yet to have a ‘proper headquarters’ for its operations. RIL is currently headquartered in its legendary Maker Chamber No IV in Nariman Point, Mumbai’s business district. Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s office is located on the fourth floor where the founder of RIL, and his father, Dhirubhai Ambani used to sit. The company occupies a couple of other floors in the same building and most of the petroleum and petrochemical business is controlled from there. Sources say that although the new headquarters is a dream project of Mukesh Ambani, he is unlikely to relocate completely from Maker Chambers as RIL’s roots lie there.

Reliance Infocomm, a pet project of Mukesh Ambani, was run from the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Centre (DAKC) in the Mumbai suburb of Vashi. DAKC is now a part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, as part of a family settlement. Incidentally, Mukesh Ambani’s new headquarters will be located barely a stone’s throw away from DAKC. The project is expected to start in six months and will be completed in the next 12 months.

The project is managed by Australian consulting firm Meinhardt. Meinhardt Singapore, which advised the government on Delhi and Mumbai airport modernisation projects, is also involved in integrated engineering of Reliance headquarters.