Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Partners with Trump Organisation for Mumbai Real Estate Project
US President Donald Trump meets Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani as Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani looks on, in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Photo: PTI
New Delhi: Reliance 4IR Realty Development, a unit of a company controlled by multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani, has paid a $10 million “development fee” to the Trump Organisation, the real-estate firm owned by US President Donald Trump, for licensing the Trump name in Mumbai.
With the payment, Ambani, India’s richest man, has joined the ranks of foreign developers pouring money into Trump’s real-estate firm, reported The Wall Street Journal. According to the president’s annual financial disclosure report, investors planning Trump-branded projects in Vietnam, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia, among other locations, paid the Trump Organisation $44.6 million in foreign licensing and development fees in 2024. This amount is more than the $8.2 million received in 2023 and $9.4 million received in 2022 by the Trump Organisation.
At the moment, it’s not yet clear which specific project in Mumbai Reliance paid the development fee for, said the WSJ report. In January this year, Ambani attended Trump’s inauguration in the US and was also a guest at the state dinner held last month in Doha, hosted by the Qatar Emir for the US President.
While previous administrations sought to keep the presidency separate from potential conflicts of interest, the Trump Organisation has seen an increase in such foreign deals, which reflects the Trump family’s strategy of continuing expansion plans while Trump is in office as the incumbent US President. In the first term, the Trump Organisation had pledged to halt foreign dealmaking while Trump was in office, a move that put a stop to any new real-estate projects from the company.
Donald Trump Jr., a company executive who oversees the president’s assets with his brother, Eric Trump, said at a Qatar-based conference in May that recusal from deals didn’t stop criticism, so this time the family has lowered the self-imposed guardrails—vowing only to avoid direct deals with foreign governments.
“We said we’re going to play by the rules, but we’re not going to go so far as to stymie our business forever,” Donald Trump Jr. said, reported The Wall Street Journal. Representatives of Reliance did not respond to requests for comment, the WSJ report noted.
Reliance Industries, founded by Mukesh Ambani's father, Dhirubhai Ambani, is one of the largest and most diversified business conglomerates in India. The company has a significant presence in various sectors, including energy, petrochemicals, and telecommunications. This partnership with the Trump Organisation marks a significant step in Reliance's expansion into the real estate market, leveraging the Trump brand's global recognition and prestige.
