The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has handed the latest investigation to its specialised agency, the SFIO, widening the government’s crackdown on the Anil Ambani–led Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). The move follows earlier probes by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), all examining alleged violations of corporate governance norms and diversion of funds across group entities.
At least four Reliance Group companies, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications (RCom), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), and CLE Pvt Ltd—are now under direct SFIO scrutiny. Officials said other entities could also come under the lens if evidence of fund movement surfaces.
Shares of Reliance Communications also fell as much as 4.7% to Rs 1.21 on the BSE on Thursday.
What triggered this?
The escalation comes after the ED last week attached assets worth nearly Rs 7,500 crore tied to alleged fund diversion. These include over 132 acres of land in Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City at Navi Mumbai, a luxury residence at Pali Hill in Mumbai’s Bandra, and the Reliance Centre in New Delhi.
According to reports, between 2010 and 2012, several group companies borrowed thousands of crores from Indian banks. A large portion of these funds was allegedly used to repay old loans, routed to related parties, invested in mutual funds, and later withdrawn — effectively to “evergreen” debt.
The ED claims that about Rs 13,600 crore was siphoned off through “layered transactions.” Five banks have already marked Reliance Communications’ loan accounts as fraudulent following suspicious fund flows.
Assets frozen, probe deepens
Earlier this week, the financial crime agency said it had frozen Rs 75 billion worth of properties belonging to Reliance Group companies as part of a money-laundering probe tied to loans extended by YES Bank between 2017 and 2019. The ED alleged that Reliance Communications and its affiliates diverted Rs 136 billion through loan “evergreening,” calling it a “fraudulent diversion of public money.”
Reports also said the group’s finance arms, Reliance Home Finance and Reliance Commercial Finance, had received over Rs 100 billion in public funds, including loans from YES Bank, via shell entities. The agency has blocked transactions on residential and commercial assets across Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai, including the Ambani family residence in Mumbai.
Reliance Group counters allegations
In a statement issued November 4, the Reliance Group said the ED’s actions have “no material impact on the operations, performance, or future prospects” of Reliance Infrastructure or Reliance Power.
The companies emphasised their debt-free status, adding that “the largest value of assets attached belongs to Reliance Communications, which has not been a part of the Reliance Group since 2019.” The group also noted that RCom is under the control of a resolution professional and committee of creditors led by State Bank of India, and that “Mr Anil D. Ambani has in no way been involved with Reliance Communications and resigned six years ago.”
Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power said they remain “committed to protecting the long-term interests of over 50 lakh retail shareholders” and continue to focus on “growth and operational excellence.”
The group further claimed to have filed a complaint with Sebi on October 29 against what it described as “a systematic campaign of price hammering and market manipulation by an illegal bear cartel and vested interests.”
The selling pressure persisted on Thursday as investors weighed the expanding regulatory scrutiny and the possibility of more entities being drawn into the probe.
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Reliance Infrastructure, with assets worth Rs 65,840 crore and net worth of Rs 14,287 crore as of March 31, 2025, and Reliance Power, with assets of Rs 41,282 crore and a net worth of Rs 16,337 crore, together represent one of India’s largest retail shareholder bases.
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