"Deeply touched": Anil Ambani thanks Mukesh Ambani for saving him

New Delhi : Industrialist Anil Ambani paid his dues to the Swedish telecom giant Ericsson one day before the Supreme Court deadline with the help of his brother and India's richest man Mukesh Ambani.

Anil Ambani's debt-hit Reliance Communications paid Rs. 458.77-crore to Ericsson on Monday. The Supreme Court had last month ordered RComm to pay the dues or face three months jail term.

Anil Ambani expressed his gratitude to his brother by saying "deeply touched".

"My sincere and heartfelt thanks to my respected elder brother, Mukesh, and Nita for standing by me during these trying times, and demonstrating the importance of staying true to our strong family values by extending this timely support," a late-night statement addressed by Anil Ambani to his brother and sister-in-law read. It said the support had come from his brother in "trying times".

The statement from Anil Ambani also read that he and his family were "deeply touched" that they had moved "beyond the past".

The two brothers had gone into a bitter dispute post the demise of their father Dhirubhai Ambani who had not made any will dividing their property. 

Although they eventually split his businesses between themselves, with Anil Ambani taking power and telecom and his brother keeping the oil and petrochemical businesses, a dispute continued over a business commitment between the two. The economic divide also grew in the meantime, with Anil Ambani falling into debt and Mukesh rising to become the richest man in Asia.