Telecom

Pankaj Pawar, the quiet force powering Ambani’s $150 billion bet

Pratap Vikram Singh

February 04, 2026 | 10 Min Read

Pankaj Pawar, the quiet force powering Ambani’s $150 billion bet

February 04, 2026 | 10 Min Read

As Jio Platforms heads for a landmark IPO, the heavily centralised execution model that built its telecom dominance is being tested. Can the company’s low-profile managing director reshape it for success in non-telecom businesses?

Toward the end of 2018, a senior executive of Reliance Industries was confined to a hospital bed at the 19-storey Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. The executive had broken his leg in an accident. Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, visiting him, asked the doctors if they could fully fix the injury. If not, Ambani was ready to fly the patient to the US for treatment.

The executive being referred to is Pankaj Pawar, then a senior vice president at Reliance Jio Infocomm. The injury took months to heal, but Pawar was never away from work. His hospital room became his office. He would connect with teams over mobile and video calls, according to his former colleagues.

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