Mukesh Ambani (pictured) stepped down as a director of mobile operator Reliance Jio Infocomm, as his son Akash Ambani took the role of chairman at the business.

Ambani senior retains roles of chairman of the operator’s parent Jio Platforms and owner of that company Reliance Industries.

The businessman’s resignation was effective yesterday (27 June) after being approved by the operator’s board, as the executives also approved the appointment of a chairman and managing director at the mobile operator.

In a stock market statement, the operator revealed Akash Ambani as chairman with Pankaj Pawar as managing director.

The outgoing director had been a figurehead for the operator since its disruptive commercial launch into the Indian market back in 2016. As some rivals struggled in an ensuing price war, Jio became the country’s largest operator by connections in 2019 after overtaking Bharti Airtel.

GSMA Intelligence connection figures for Q1 2022 place Reliance Jio in a clear lead at the helm of the market with 410 million. Bharti Airtel’s unit had 326 million with Vodafone Idea placed third on 238 million.

Alongside the changes leading the company’s board, Reliance Jio Infocomm also appointed Raminder Singh Gujral and K V Chowdary as independent directors for a term of five years. These appointments, in addition to that of Pawar, are subject to shareholder approval.