PM won't get involved in corporate wars: PMO

AMBANI VS AMBANI: Amar Singh had called for the PM's intervention in the corporate battle between the Ambanis.

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New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office has denied reports that he is intervening to resolve differences between the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had met Mukesh Ambani on Monday, but a statement issued by the PM's media advisor Sanjay Baru says:

"The Prime Minister meets corporate leaders all the time to discuss national economic issues, as any leader of a modern economy would. The people of India know Dr Manmohan Singh would not get involved in corporate affairs."

Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, Mukesh Ambani, met the PM and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday. He also met Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and some other senior officials including Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar.

The meetings assumed significance as they came soon after Samajwadi Party General Secretary, Amar Singh, called for the Prime Minister's intervention in the corporate battle between the Ambani brothers.

Amar Singh is considered close to Mukesh Ambani's younger brother Anil Ambani and has reportedly asked for a windfall profit tax (WPT) on exports of petroleum companies, which are bound to hurt the elder Ambani.

WPT is a tax on profits that ensue from a sudden windfall gain to a particular company or industry, especially in the case of private petroleum firms engaged in refining crude oil.

Amar Singh had openly expressed his business interests by asking the Prime Minister to intervene in the corporate rivalries between Mukesh and Anil Ambani.

With the SP leader complaining there's no level-playing field between the brothers, the meeting between the Prime Minister and the head of RIL carried huge political significance, especially as it came after Amar Singh said last week: "The way Mukesh is opposing this MTN deal is very disgusting because it is good for the country. At times the reaction of Anil's camp may also be detrimental. So in the circumstances somebody as senior as the Prime Minister must intervene."

Amar Singh had been gunning for Mukesh Ambani demanding withdrawal of EOU status for RIL's Jamnagar refinery.

He has also been seeking an end to Mukesh's alleged interference in Reliance Energy's tie up with MTN and wants guarantee of supply of Reliance gas to Anil's proposed power plant in Dadri.