RCom to cut debt to below Rs 20,000 cr: Anil Ambani

Reliance Communications (RCom) is aiming to bring down its record high debt of Rs 35,500 crore to less than Rs 20,000 crore in the next two years, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) chairman Anil Ambani said here on Tuesday.

Addressing successive annual general meetings of his group companies, Ambani said RCom would participate in spectrum auctions when they come up next year to launch fourth-generation (4G) telecommunications services in the country.

This will put RCom in direct competition with elder brother Mukesh Ambani's soon-to-be-launched 4G-based Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel. Reliance Communications had, in the past, announced several plans to sell stakes in its telecom tower company and undersea cable company to help reduce its debt, but no deal has been signed yet.

Reliance Capital would focus on home finance and triple the capital deployed in housing finance so that it became the engine of growth, Ambani said. Reliance Capital had applied for a bank licence but it was rejected by the Reserve Bank of India along with all corporate applicants, including those by the the Birlas and Religare.

"Guidelines are being awaited with regard to a large number of issues in the banking industry. We will evaluate all options. We believe there will be opportunities to explore in universal banking and payment banking," Ambani said. Reliance Capital intends to explore opportunities in payment banking, infrastructure finance banking and SME banking, where guidelines are expected shortly.

Reliance Capital, Ambani said, also intended to launch more India-focussed funds overseas to attract international capital into the fixed income and equities markets in India. The rise in the foreign direct investment limit in insurance would provide opportunities to strengthen partnerships in life insurance, Ambani pointed out. "Such a move would facilitate possible partnerships with global entities in the general insurance and health insurance businesses," he added. Ambani said there were plans to set up a separate company for the health insurance business under Reliance General Insurance.

Addressing shareholders of Reliance Infrastructure, Ambani said the company was planning to increase its cement capacity from five million tonnes to 15 million tonnes and would participate in the smart cities and new road projects. He said all capital intensive projects were now coming to an end and the next few years would see revenue and profit growth. Ambani said no penalty had been levied on the company by the Supreme Court and all its coal blocks and ultra-mega power projects were safe.

He added 30 million passengers travelled on the Mumbai Metro in the first 100 days and arbitration with Delhi Metro was expected to conclude this financial year.