Manoj Modi

Manoj Modi was a schoolmate of Mukesh Ambani at Hill Grange School. Later Mukesh and Manoj studied at UDCT to be Chemical Engineering.

After Reliance Infocomm was handed over to Anil Ambani, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries handed over the retail projects to Manoj Modi and he has been in charge of the retailing venture ever since. He has been a member of the key management team of Reliance Petroleum Limited and has contributed towards the planning and construction of the existing refinery. He has also played a quintessential role in the implementation of mega projects on schedule for Reliance Industries through the years.

Manoj Modi has been with Reliance for the past 20 years. The now-Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infocomm was first entrusted to Manoj Modi. He spent three months understanding and studying the global telecom sector and its emerging trends in early 2000. While studying the market trends, Manoj Modi was the first to realize that Dhirubhai Ambani’s dream to provide communication to every Indian at a price less than that of a postcard was achievable if the business model included voice and data services along with piecemeal services. He not only played a quintessential role in conceptualizing the blueprint for Reliance’s entry into the information and communication sector but also was Dhirubhai and Mukesh’s first choice for the same.
Manoj Modi has been awarded with the ‘Rashtriya Samman Patra’ several times for being amongst the highest individual taxpayers in India by the Income Tax Department.

In 2004 Manoj Modi received the Most Promising Sevice Provider of the Year Award on behalf of Reliance Info at the Asia Pacific Technology Awards.

Reliance Trends, the fashion apparels and accessories specialty concept of Reliance Retail marks its comeback in Uttar Pradesh. India’s most populated state Uttar Pradesh welcomes back Reliance Retail as the Reliance Retail’s retail format opened its 33rd store in the state capital Lucknow. According to Arun Sirdeshmukh, the chief executive of Reliance Trends, with this store opening in Lucknow, the company is keen to make its presence felt in other cities of the state. This includes Kanpur, Agra, Meerut and Bareilly. They are also planning a second store in Lucknow in another six months. In the next six months six stores will be opened in UP. This is part of an overall aggressive expansion strategy, under which they will open 100 stores by 2011-12.

Close on the heels of Reliance Trends returning to UP, the company’s other standalone niche specialty stores including, Reliance Digital, Reliance Footprints and Reliance Music are following suit. While Reliance Footprints and Reliance Digital are expected to be launched in Lucknow early next year, talks for setting up Reliance Music stores are in the final stages. This is our third year of operations and already they are the largest chain of apparel stores in the country. The plan is to take this forward by launching 100 stores by 2011-12 and 155 stores by 2012-13. All the locations have been identified and work is going on at these sites at various stages, Sirdeshmukh informs.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries didn’t have smooth sailing in UP for a while. Three years ago, it was forced to close shop in the state as Reliance Industries had made a failed attempt to foray into the organized retail sector in India’s most populous state through Reliance Fresh.
Reliance Trends houses some of the best brands from various parts of the world including their collections. The store’s core principle is – ‘Fashion at great value’. It offers a mix of private brands across men’s, women’s and children’s categories. The collection offers high fashion, latest trends, cuts and styles and top-quality material backed by technology and innovation.
Reliance Trends seems unbeatable as they offer fashionable and trendy clothes at prices unmatched in the market. Reliance Trends is leaving no stone unturned in tapping the homogeneous mix of world famous brands and private brands and is all set to expand to 56 stores by the end of current financial year.

Mr. Jyotindra Thacker, credited with driving equipment procurement and operations of Reliance Infocomm (now Reliance Communications) during its formative stages, has emerged as the likely choice to head RIL’s latest foray into telecom due to his background in IT and ability to procure equipment in a cost-effective way. Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest private sector company, is trusting its homegrown professionals to lead its Telecom venture. The refinery-to-retail major may choose its information technology systems head Jyotindra Thacker for the top job at newly-acquired broadband services company Infotel Broadband Services, according to sources.

Mr. Thacker played a major role in rolling out operations of Reliance Infocomm which built a nationwide fibre optic leading to cheaper tariffs. A person who had worked in Reliance Infocomm said Mukesh Ambani’s trusted lieutenant Manoj Modi and Jyotindra Thacker were in charge of negotiations with suppliers like Nortel and Qualcomm. “Of course, they managed to bring down costs from companies like Nortel,” said the person. Mr. Thacker is also a close relative of Mr. Modi.

After bagging broadband spectrum for 22 circles, Infotel is drawing up plans to procure equipment and roll out operations. “This is where Thacker’s expertise will come handy,” said a telecom industry executive who had worked with him. The company is likely to start with offering wireless broadband services, analysts had told ET. The retail broadband segment has 9 million subscribers now, but despite that only eight people in 1,000 have broadband access.

Source:http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/oil-energy/2010062854924.htm

R Ravimohan, executive director for Reliance Industries who was appointed to its board earlier this year, passed away on Monday, a company statement said. Mr. Ravimohan passed away unexpectedly, on late evening on Monday, December 28, 2009 at the age of 52.

Mr.Ravimohan attended the puja that was organized yesterday on account of the birth anniversary of founder chairman, late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani to pay his homage. He was to leave for Jamnagar today, Tuesday for a business tour.

Mr. Ravimohan was a chemical engineer and had completed the advanced management programme from Harvard Business School. He is survived by his wife Madhuralakshmi, daughter Hridaya and son Jagad.

Mr. Ravimohan has previously served as Crisil’s chairman and Standard & Poor’s managing director and regional head for South and Southeast Asia and is credited with building Crisil into the largest rating, financial and business research and advisory service company in India. Ravimohan was appointed on the Board of Directors of Reliance Industries earlier this year. He was one of the key negotiators along with Manoj Modi and Alok Agrawal in the Lyondell Basell deal.

Mr. Ravimohan had developed excellent rapport and camaraderie with Mukesh Ambani, Manoj Modi and other directors of the company during his short yet memorable stint at RIL.

Chairman and Managing Director or RIL, Mukesh Ambani stated, “We are deeply saddened by the sudden loss of Ravimohan. He was a keen supporter of Reliance Industries and a very dear friend. On behalf of all of us at Reliance Industries, I offer my heartfelt condolences to Ravi’s family and many friends.”

Source: Official Statement by RIL