India’s top court told billionaire tycoon Anil Ambani on Wednesday he must pay his debts to Sweden’s Ericsson or go to jail, the latest twist in a saga that forced his telecom company to file for bankruptcy.
Ambani’s debt-laden Reliance Communications is some $4 billion dollars in debt after a brutal telecom price war that pitched him against his brother Mukesh — India’s richest man — and gripped the country’s business community.
Judges found Anil Ambani, 59, had refused to pay telecom giant Ericsson Indian Rs5.5 billion ($77 million) as previously ordered by the Supreme Court.
They ruled the billionaire will be jailed for three months if Indian Rs4.5 billion are not stumped up within four weeks. Ambani’s firm said it will comply with the ruling and pay the debt. Some Indian Rs1 billion have already been deposited with the court, which said the sum will be handed to Ericsson.
