Indian tycoon Anil Ambani ruled in contempt for refusing to settle Ericsson debt
The ruling deals a new blow to Reliance Communications, whose shares have fallen 86% in the past three years
New Delhi — India’s top court told billionaire tycoon Anil Ambani on Wednesday he must pay his debts to Sweden’s Ericsson or go to jail, the latest twist in a saga that has brought his telecom company to its knees. Ambani’s Reliance Communications owes about $4b after a brutal telecom price war with his brother Mukesh — India’s richest man. Judges found Anil Ambani had refused to pay telecom giant Ericsson 5.5-billion rupees ($77m) as previously ordered by the Supreme Court. They ruled the billionaire will be jailed for three months if 4.5-billion rupees are not stumped up within four weeks. Ambani’s firm said it will comply with the ruling and pay the debt. About 1-billion rupees have already been deposited with the court, which said the sum will be handed to Ericsson. But the ruling dealt a new blow to Reliance Communications shares which lost another 3.65% Wednesday on the Mumbai stock exchange.
The shares have now fallen 86% in the past three years — including a drop by mo...
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