Page 8 - Nita Ambani

HISTORY

milestones

commerce graduate of the Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, a di-
A ploma holder in early childhood education and an accomplished Bharatanatyam exponent, in
1985 Nita wed Mukesh Ambani, the eldest son of Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2002), the legendary found-
er-chairman of RIL.

During the early years of marriage, while Mukesh was constructing the company’s petrochemicals
plant in Patalganga (Maharashtra), Nita promoted a school for children of employees working on the
project. This first venture in education proved to be a defining experience. Subsequently, in 1997 when
Mukesh was masterminding RIL’s mammoth oil and petrochemical refinery in Jamnagar (Gujarat), Nita
promoted another school for RIL employees and led the company’s Jamnagar Township Project, a
sustainable housing venture that has won national recognition and several awards for excellent archi-
tecture and environment-friendly landscaping, where over 5,500 families reside. Today, that dry arid
stretch of Jamnagar has transformed into an oasis through the plantation of over 3.4 million trees on
2,500 acres despite little or no rainfall. This greenbelt has since metamorphosed the Jamnagar Refinery
complex into a verdant landscape of natural abundance, with doubled rainfall and a haven for migra-
tory birds and animals. It also hosts Asia’s largest single location mango plantation with over 138,000
trees producing more than 130 varieties of the king of fruits.

Nita is also the owner of Mumbai Indians, the most successful cricket team in the Indian Premier League
(IPL), India’s most watched sporting event and among the top cricket tournaments worldwide. Under
her leadership, Mumbai Indians has won the IPL Championship four times. She is also founder chair-
person of Football Sports Development Ltd that launched the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2014, which
is revolutionising the beautiful game in India. In acknowledgement of her extraordinary contribution
to sports development, in 2016, she was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee,
the first Indian woman member of this committee. Moreover she is the co-chair of Jio MAMI, a film festi-
val that brings the best of world cinema to India and showcases the best of Indian cinema to the world.

A nature lover, ecology preservation and wildlife enthusiast, Nita’s hobbies include dance and vaca-
tioning in wildlife sanctuaries. While dance is her medium of connecting with God, she vacations in DAIS Snapshot
wildernesses in Africa and India.

Estb: 2003
Students: 1,064
Faculty: 142