NEW DELHI: Thirty-two years ago, Dhirubhai Ambani ’s son Mukesh joined the company his father had founded. Now, Chairman Mukesh Ambani ’s son Akash has joined Reliance Industries Ltd, starting at its telecom unit at a critical time. He’s involved in finalising the go-to-market strategy of the ambitious 4G telecom venture, said two persons aware of the development.“He comes to office regularly and sits in review meetings with his father and Manoj Modi. He is also working closely with Reliance Jio Infocomm’s Group President Sandip Das . The company doesn’t want to talk about it because he is new to the business and learning the ropes,” said one of those cited above.It is learnt that Akash, who was also seen at the IPL players’ auction last week along with mother Nita Ambani, is working with Das in preparing a comprehensive plan for Reliance Jio that will include strategies for customer acquisition, service, call centres and related issues.According to one of the persons cited above, Mukesh Ambani is keen that his son sits through all critical meetings of Reliance Jio because he feels this would be the best education for him. The elder Ambani learnt the fundamentals of the group’s flagship petrochemicals business by shadowing his father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, at every meeting and at every juncture that decisions were taken.Mukesh Ambani joined RIL in 1981 at the age of 24 and went on to set up India’s biggest refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat. He was also responsible for setting up the group’s telecom venture and had an ambitious vision of where he wanted to go with it. But the unit became part of younger brother Anil Ambani’s businesses following a split between them. A subsequent rapprochement between the brothers meant the older brother could reenter the business that he felt so strongly about.An RIL spokesman did not respond to ET’s repeated requests for comment on the younger Ambani’s induction. Akash Ambani, 22, who pursued undergraduate studies at Brown University in the US, returned to India last year to intern in the family business. His twin sister Isha, a graduate from Yale, is likely to join the Reliance Foundation, which houses the group’s schools and hospital ventures, said a person aware of the plans. Their younger brother, Anant, is pursuing higher studies in the US.People familiar with the inner workings of the company say Modi is one of Akash’s key mentors. Modi, 55, was Mukesh Ambani’s classmate at engineering college and is a hands-on operations person.Regarded by many as Ambani’s closest associate, Modi played a large role in setting up the Hazira petrochemicals complex, the Jamnagar refinery, the first telecom business, Reliance Retail and now the 4G rollout. The 4G project provides the right opportunity for the younger Ambani to learn the basics of setting up a venture from scratch, said some of those cited above.RIL, which is said to have aggressive plans to roll out a nationwide voice and data network to rival that of the incumbents, bid around Rs 11,000 crore for spectrum in auctions that ended last week. Reliance Jio, a subsidiary of RIL, is the first telecom operator to hold a pan-India unified licence, which means it can offer all telecom services everywhere in India.The initiation of Akash into the telecom venture seems to be a conscious decision on the part of Mukesh Ambani because the business combines both the need for innovation and taps into the aspirations of the younger generation. Akash is part of a venture that has grown rapidly from less than 700 professionals a year ago to over 3,000 employees. Reliance Industries as a whole is a powerhouse with a net profit of Rs 21,003 crore and total assets in excess of Rs 318,500 crore.Ambani junior is often seen in the Reliance Corporate Park located at Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai, people said. The plush corporate office, popularly known as RCP, was built about four years ago and houses almost all the RIL businesses. RCP also has an office for Ambani senior, although he usually functions from Maker IV in Nariman Point. Akash’s RCP office is in the same building as that of the chairman’s office, they said.Much will depend on how Reliance’s long-anticipated telecom plans unfold. Bharti , Vodafone and Idea will fight hard to make sure the new entrant doesn’t hurt their business.The younger Ambani has been given the ideal platform from which to launch himself and make a mark as the first member of the third generation of a family that has transformed India’s business history in the past half-century.