Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, addressed a special program organized in the honor of Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar on 20 December 2025. The event was organized to celebrate Dr. Mashelkar’s achievement of mentoring a record 54 PhD students and the release of his book. Dr. Mashelkar’s contribution was the center of discussion on the country’s science, innovation and industrial thinking in the program. Speaking from the stage, Mukesh Ambani spoke in detail on the role of Indian science, technology and innovation useful for the society and told how scientific thinking gives direction to the future of India. Further you can read the entire address given by Mukesh Ambani in this program-
Good evening
Today’s evening is very special for me personally. The two people who have influenced my life the most are present here today. First, Professor MM Sharma, who has had an influence on me since I was 20 years old. The other was Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, whom I met in the 1990s. Both of them gave direction to my thinking and played a role in many achievements of Reliance.
First of all, I express my deep respect to Professor Sharma. Maharashtra Education Minister Chandrakant Patil is also present among us. My greetings to all the scientists, industry colleagues who came here and especially the Mashelkar family.
Today we are honoring an extraordinary Indian scientist. Dr. Mashelkar has received 54 honorary doctorates. Yes, all 54. Common people struggle to get a degree in life, and Dr. Mashelkar achieved it like someone collects flyer miles.
Whenever I congratulated him on his achievements, he always said that the real work had yet to begin. This is his thinking. He is like a tree laden with fruits which always remains bent. Humility is his identity.
In the life journey of Dr. Mashelkar, I see the journey of modern India. A child studying under the street lights of Mumbai illuminates the scientific thinking of the entire country. In his childhood, he had the love of his mother Anjani ji and his own hard work. With that he reached global respect.
He says that Indian society is like an iceberg, where most of the people live below the surface. It is the responsibility of scientists and entrepreneurs to bring this iceberg to the top so that every person can live a better life. Professor Sharma, Dr. Mashelkar and my father Dhirubhai Ambani also had the same thinking.
My father had laid the foundation of Reliance with the thought of improving the quality of life of Indians. Today New India is full of youth dreams. Crores of dreams are being fulfilled in India itself. The road is long, but as Dr Mashelkar says, it is possible.
He built CSIR into a world-class research system, defended India’s traditional knowledge in patent battles, and advised the government and industry on innovation. He also had a big contribution in making Reliance a science and deep tech based company.
In the 1990s, I told him that I wanted to make Reliance an innovative company. Then Professor Sharma used to say that how long will you keep buying technology, when will you make your own technology. This is where our partnership began.
Today I can proudly say that out of 5.5 lakh employees in Reliance, more than 1 lakh are technical professionals. Reliance Innovation Council was started in the year 2000, in which Nobel laureates and global thinkers were associated. This has now become our culture.
Mukesh Ambani and Dr. Mashelkar
Dr. Mashelkar showed us the path to extreme affordability with deep tech. He called it Gandhian engineering. Their mantra is more from less for more. That means more value for more people with fewer resources.
He had said that India did Mars Mission at less cost than the film. This thinking should be there in Indian companies. Jio is an example of this. Jio brought India into the mainstream of the digital world.
He also gave us direction on the issue of energy. We cannot become prosperous if India continues to import 80 percent of its energy. Today we are taking concrete steps towards green and clean energy.
Dr. Mashelkar taught us that technology without compassion is just a machine and with compassion it becomes a social movement. Artificial intelligence is important, but empathy is more important.
His passion and eagerness to learn increased with age. He is a true Gyan Yogi. He shares knowledge even in IITs, IIMs and small colleges because he wants to make India a world class research country.
Dr. Mashelkar is the bridge between science and industry. India needs more such bridges. Only then will India become a deep tech superpower.
Dr. Saheb, your life teaches every Indian child that it does not matter where one started from, what matters is how big the dream is, how much hard work is done and how deep the thinking is.
Salutations to you on behalf of Reliance, this platform and the entire country.
Thanks for inspiring India.
Jai Hind.
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