As per the current guidelines of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, promoters are allowed to buy upto five per cent of the equity stake of their companies from the stock markets every year. If their share acquisition exceeds this five per cent limit, promoters will have to make an open offer under the takeover code.

After purchasing some 20 million shares from the secondary market to increase stake by 2%, the Ambanis are all set to buy another 3% from the open market by the fiscal end, taking their stake to 31 per cent. ``Under the Sebi guidelines, RIL has already purchased 2 per cent equity from the market. The balance three per cent will be picked up mostly by the end of the year,'' said RIL managing director Anil Ambani.

Whilethe Ambanis hold 28 per cent of the equity stake in RIL, FIIs hold 16 per cent, GDR holders 8 per cent, NRIs/OCBs two per cent, domestic institutions and mutual funds 21 per cent and public 25 per cent. However, the public holding in the company's equity has down from 50 per cent to 25 per cent in the last few years. "The decline in retail investor's stake does not necessarily mean that they have moved away from RIL. The company still has loyal small investors which hold on to the 25 per cent," said Ambani.

Ambani has gone on record about certain "hidden values" for the first time. He said that the replacement value of RIL manufacturing assets was at Rs 40,000 crore, which is equivalent to Rs 400 per share of the company. RIL's 50 per cent stake in Reliance Petroleum is currently valued at Rs 15,000 crore. Besides, its 30 per cent holding in the Panna, Mukta and Tapti venture is valued at Rs 2,600 crore and RIL's holding in BSES and Larsen & Toubro is worth Rs 1,000 crore.

However, Ambani wasnon-committal about the timing of listing its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

``We are ready for the US listing. We've been following tough US GAAP accounting norms,'' he said. It has planned to list its stock on the NYSE most likely through conversion of its global depository receipts (GDRs) into American Depository Receipts (ADRs) within the next two years.