Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani’s father Dhirubhai Ambani borrowed Reliance name from…, started company with this product, not oil, retail or telecommunication

If Dhirubhai Ambani were alive today, he would have been 92 years old. Born on 28th December 1932, he is remembered as a visionary entrepreneur who transformed the way business is done in India. His journey to success was anything but easy. Through innovative strategies and sheer determination, he rose to become one of the wealthiest individuals in the country. Dhirubhai started his career with just Rs 200, but through his hard work and smart planning, he built Reliance Industries, one of India’s biggest business empires. By the time of his passing in 2002, Reliance was worth around Rs 62,000 crore.

A tough beginning

Dhirubhai was born in Chorwad, a small village in Gujarat, to Hirachand Gordhanbhai Ambani, a school teacher. He was the third son in the family. Due to financial hardship, he could only study up to high school. To support his family, he began doing small jobs. However, life had much bigger things in store for him.

Yemen chapter: The turning point

In 1949, at the age of 17, Dhirubhai took a ship named Kabota and traveled to Aden in Yemen, where his elder brother Ramniklal was already working. There, he joined A. Besse & Co., a firm dealing in petroleum products, earning Rs 200 per month. He started by working at a petrol station. Within two years, when the company became a distributor for Shell, he was promoted to manager at the company’s filling station at the Aden port. But Dhirubhai had bigger dreams. In 1954, he decided to return to India and start something of his own.

The new beginning

Inspired during his stay in Yemen, Dhirubhai dreamt of making it big. A year after coming back to India, he moved to Mumbai. He had only Rs 500 in his pocket when he left home, but what he lacked in money, he made up for with courage and ambition. This marked the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey in Mumbai.

At that time, polyester was in high demand in India, while Indian spices had a strong market abroad. With just a 350-square-foot room, one desk, three chairs, two employees, and a single telephone, Dhirubhai laid the foundation of his first company—Reliance Commercial Corporation.

The business model was simple but smart. He exported Indian spices overseas and imported polyester yarn into India. This import-export business laid the groundwork for what would later grow into a massive industrial empire.

How the name “Reliance” was borrowed

Interestingly, even the name “Reliance” wasn’t originally his idea. Dhirubhai borrowed it from a close friend in Yemen named Pravinbhai Thakkar. In a 2002 interview, Pravinbhai shared that he had started a store in 1953 called “Reliance Store” after getting dealership rights for Rolex and Canon. The store did well, and soon he owned a Mercedes-Benz.

Seeing this, Dhirubhai approached him and said, “I really like the name Reliance. It builds trust. And just look at how lucky it’s been for you—you now drive a Mercedes. I think it’s a lucky name. Will you give it to me?”

Pravin agreed. A few months later, Dhirubhai got married and returned to India with savings of USD 3,000. Using that money, he started his company under the name Reliance.

Later, during a shareholder meeting in Rajkot in 1977, Dhirubhai openly acknowledged that he had borrowed the name from his friend who had become successful in South Yemen running the original Reliance store.

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