New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS): Even as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have locked horns over several issues, Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday said Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal was a friend and not a rival.

"Let me correct you. Sunil is a good friend and not a rival. I think what he said and what may have been interpreted may be different. But let me make my point of view clear. I think that for all of us in the industry, profits and losses are risks that we take. And I don't think that we can rely on governments and regulators to guarantee our profits and losses," Ambani said while replying to a question at the HT Leadership Summit here.

He was asked to respond to comments by Mittal recently that said Jio's foray into Indian telecom market with its free voice and data offer had made incumbent players to write off investments of up to $50 billion.

"To me what is most important is, do we really move the country forward and does the consumer gain. And I think that the question that you should be thinking about is that even if there are profits and losses, who gains and who loses? And as long as the consumer gains and the country moves forward, it is worth taking those losses, right? Some of us are big boys, we can afford that," Ambani added.