Apr 8, 2025 10:04 IST
First published on: Apr 8, 2025 at 07:38 IST
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Congratulations on putting women’s entrepreneurship at the forefront. In appreciating women’s entrepreneurship, I have to give credit to Isha (Ambani Piramal) and Nita (Ambani). In the last decade, they have opened up my mind.
We are now celebrating women entrepreneurs as newsmakers. There will be a time when they will be history-makers, not only for their industries but for their countries and for civilisation as a whole. So, one day, I hope we celebrate them as history-makers. To just give you (some) perspective: We have been involved in industry for a long time, and industry is moving from hardware to software. Intelligence is at the forefront of everything we do. I know most of the women that have won the award today – and I admire all of them. What they said on the panel is that we are moving towards a more compassionate, a more loving, and a more empathy-filled world.
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Isha always tells me that it is not the survival of the fittest, it is really the survival of the kindest. That is the impact she has on me. She grades my meetings. Now, I am giving you all the meat. So, when we have meetings together, I have to look at her. She’ll say, “Dad, this is a D.” I’ll say, “What happened?” She is perpetually grading me. So, in a sense, I already have a boss in terms of all the meetings we do together. There are many silent initiatives that Isha has begun in Reliance Industries — not only in retail but in the group as a whole — which she is behind, and we will see the results of that in a few years, I hope.
Fundamentally, we are fortunate at Reliance that we are giving women leaders space very much at the forefront. As the founder, I am very happy that we have done it. Most of our big institutions – including our hospital in Mumbai which we are all very proud of — were built by Nita and are run by a woman leader. Our foundation is run by a woman leader. NMACC (Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre) has an all-women team. In a sense, yes, women’s entrepreneurship is coming to the fore and all of us believe in it.
Congratulations Isha and congratulations to all the other winners. I have always admired Mallika Srinivasan. All the winners are people I have admired. There’s Vani (Kola), if you talk about start-ups. For us, she is where we have got the highest returns. We also met women entrepreneurs with her.
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(Here’s a note to entrepreneurs). You win in the mind, as always. It doesn’t matter who you are. The important thing is that you win the mind. I believe in what Zia Mody has said: You just have to go for it. You will never succeed in the first attempt. Keep at it. You will ultimately win.
Ambani is chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited. This article is an edited excerpt of his remarks at The Express Awards for Women Entrepreneurs (Express AWE 2025) held on April 5. His daughter, Isha Ambani Piramal, is among the recipients
