The company yesterday informed stock exchanges that a share buyback would be among the topics the board would discuss on December 27.

The meeting comes within days of the vice-chairman and managing director, Anil Ambani, calling for a meeting to discuss issues of importance, including the resignation of one of the senior most directors, M.L. Bhakta.

According to a company source, the buyback proposal is a reaction to the fall in RIL share price ever since differences between the Ambani brothers became public.

"The company strongly believes that its shares are significantly undervalued. A share buyback is a strong signal of confidence in the share price and company performance and seems, at present, to be the best option to counter speculative activities that could be detrimental to the interests of RIL shareholders," the source said.

The RIL stock has fallen 12 per cent from Rs544 on November 17, the day Mukesh Ambani said in a television interview that all may be not well within the family. The stock was quoting at Rs 480.65 at close of trading on Monday.

Reliance had last kept a share buyback programme open from April 2000 to June 2002, offering Rs303 per share. The Rs 1,100-crore programme did not get a single share then.

While RIL will finalise its plan only next Monday, the big question being asked is what premium the company would offer.