Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has underscored the central role of science-led innovation, affordability and compassion in India’s development, crediting scientist Dr Raghunath Anant Mashelkar for deeply influencing Reliance’s strategic transformation into a deep-tech-driven company.
Speaking recently at the launch of Mashelkar’s book “More from Less for More: Innovation’s Holy Grail”, Ambani said the former CSIR director-general, along with Prof. M.M. Sharma, had shaped his thinking since his early 20s and directly influenced several outcomes achieved by Reliance over the past two decades.
He described Mashelkar as a rare bridge between science, industry and public policy, whose ideas helped reposition Reliance from a technology buyer to a creator of indigenous technologies.
Ambani highlighted Mashelkar’s philosophy of “Gandhian Engineering” — defined as producing “more from less for more” — as a guiding principle for Reliance. The approach focuses on using advanced technologies with minimal natural and financial resources to benefit large populations, combining innovation with extreme affordability.
Citing Jio as a prime example, Ambani said the telecom venture demonstrated how indigenous innovation and low-cost models could bring India into the global digital mainstream. He noted that despite early skepticism, Jio helped lay the foundation for India’s participation in the emerging intelligence and AI-driven era by making data among the most affordable in the world.
Ambani also pointed to Reliance’s growing science base, stating that the group now employs over 100,000 technical professionals out of a total workforce of 550,000, positioning it at the threshold of becoming a fully science- and deep-tech-led enterprise. He credited Mashelkar with initiating the Reliance Innovation Council in 2000, which brought global thinkers and Nobel laureates into dialogue with Reliance teams and helped embed innovation into the company’s culture.
On energy, Ambani reiterated a long-held belief shared by his father Dhirubhai Ambani, Prof. Sharma and Mashelkar: that India’s dependence on imported energy is a structural barrier to national prosperity. He said Reliance, guided by Mashelkar, is working towards affordable, clean and abundant green energy solutions, including making solar energy reliable beyond limited hours, with the ambition of serving not just India but global markets.
Ambani stressed that technology must be paired with empathy and compassion to become a social movement rather than mere machinery. While calling for India to lead in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, he argued that combining intelligence with empathy would allow India to offer a new development model to the world.
He concluded by urging stronger integration between Indian businesses and universities to build a deep-tech ecosystem spanning AI, quantum technologies, advanced materials, healthcare, agriculture and space sciences, describing Mashelkar as a lifelong exemplar of passion, humility and knowledge-sharing.
Ambani said Mashelkar’s life journey — from poverty to global scientific recognition — reflects the story of modern India and sends a clear message to young Indians: that ambition, hard work and care for society matter more than one’s starting point.
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