India's biggest private sector business empire is to be dismantled after the mother of two feuding brothers brokered a deal that brought peace and the carve-up of Reliance group of companies founded by her late husband.

Mukesh Ambani and his younger brother Anil had been engaged in a public spat over the running of the empire founded in 1958 by their father, Dhirubhai Ambani, who started as a petrol pump attendant, and died three years ago without leaving a will.

Reliance is often compared to General Electric and is portrayed as a symbol of India's industrial renaissance. The company has worldwide sales of $23bn (£13bn), a turnover larger than Marks & Spencer, British Airways and Coca-Cola.

Since last year the air has been thick with mud thrown by rival camps.

The family feud appears to have started when Mukesh elevated friends to positions above that of his younger brother, Anil.

The fight was closely watched because Reliance Industries has 3.5 million shareholders, India's largest equity base, and accounts for 6% of the country's exports.

There was palpable relief in government and corporate circles about the apparently amicable resolution of the dispute. The country's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and the finance minister had counselled that the two US-educated brothers should settle in the wider interests of the country.

In public, both sons have deferred to their mother, Kokilaben. "I have today amicably resolved the issues between my two sons, Mukesh and Anil, keeping in mind the proud legacy of my husband, Dhirubhai Ambani," she said in a weekend statement announcing the division of assets.

Under the split, Mukesh, 48, keeps control of the oil, gas and petrochemicals businesses of the group's main business, Reliance Industries Ltd, and Indian Petrochemicals Corp.

Younger brother Anil, 46, will get control of Reliance Energy, one of India's biggest power utility firms, Reliance Infocomm, market leader in the country's booming telecoms sector, and Reliance Capital, the group's finance arm.

Mukesh seems to have retained the bigger share with his group of companies having a turnover of £10bn.

Analysts say that the break-up of Reliance would have "broken the heart of Dhirubhai Ambani."