Nita Ambani marks birthday with groundbreaking of 100-acre Anant Ashray township KARJAT, India — Reliance Foundation founder and chairperson Nita Ambani performed the bhumi pujan and groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday for the Nita Mukesh Ambani Anant Ashray, a proposed 100-acre township in Karjat near Mumbai. The project, which coincides with Ambani's birthday, aims to provide a lifelong home to more than 5,000 orphaned children, senior citizens and persons with developmental disabilities. The permanent, not-for-profit institution will be developed in phases and comprise eight residential villages, each named after a sacred river of India. Residents will live in small, family-style homes supported by dedicated house parents and caregivers, with each individual receiving an individualised care and development plan covering healthcare, education, skills, employment, friendships and personal well-being. Facilities will include a specialised hospital offering developmental medicine, epilepsy care, special-needs dentistry and palliative care, alongside rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and hydrotherapy. The campus will also feature inclusive sports and recreational facilities, an educational ecosystem, vocational training centres, a bakery, café and craft studios, plus a hospice wing and garden of remembrance. The foundation said the township will seek to serve the surrounding region, with around 1,000 people from nearby areas expected to access therapy, education and employment opportunities. Mobile medical clinics and family respite homes will extend support to neighbouring communities. The initiative was also intended to address the concerns of parents whose children need lifelong care, with Ambani stating that parents who have spent a lifetime worrying about who will care for their children when they are no longer there can find peace in knowing their child will always have a home and a family of their own. The township will also include a national training academy focused on strengthening India's disability-care workforce. The project is envisioned as a not-for-profit institution where people of different age groups and needs can live with dignity, care and a sense of belonging. Ambani performed the ceremony on November 1, her birthday, at the proposed site in Karjat. The township will be developed in phases subject to necessary approvals.