Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI, AUG 29 : Asia’s richest billionaire Mukesh Ambani said on Thursday that his oil-to-telecom conglomerate- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) – will be among the world’s top 30 most valuable companies in the near future. At the end of Thursday’s trading session, Reliance had a market capitalisation of ₹ 20.58 lakh crore, the highest for any listed Indian company.

“Our future is far brighter than our past. For example, Reliance took over two decades to be amongst the Top 500 companies globally. The following two decades saw us joining the league of the world’s Top-50 most valuable companies. With our strategic adoption of Deep-Tech and Advance Manufacturing, I can clearly see Reliance earning a place in the Top-30 League in the near future,” said Ambani the company’s 47th annual general meeting (AGM).

Meanwhile, the Board of RIL will meet on September 5 to consider and approve a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1.

“The Board of Directors is scheduled to be held September 5, 2024, to consider and recommend to the shareholders for their approval, issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 to the equity shareholders of the company by a capitalization of reserves,” the company said in a filing. Following the announcement, shares of RIL jumped over 2% in intraday trade on Thursday.

Ambani said the shareholders will be rewarded handsomely from time to time as the company keeps growing. “I have supreme confidence in the robust performance and bright future growth prospects of all our businesses. When our shareholders are rewarded, Reliance grows faster and creates more value. This virtuous cycle has been the guarantor of your company’s perpetual progress,” he said.

Commenting on the merger with Walt Disney which received Competition Commission of India (CCI) approval on Wednesday, Ambani said that the partnership marks the beginning of a new era in India’s entertainment industry.

“We are combining content creation with digital streaming. Our digital-first approach will deliver unparalleled content at affordable prices. We will cater to every consumer’s tastes. We will provide world-class digital entertainment across the spectrum. We are excited about this partnership. I warmly welcome Disney to the Reliance family. Just like Jio and Retail, our expanded Media business will be an invaluable growth centre in the Reliance ecosystem,” he said.

Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani during the launch of 5G services in India at the 6th India Mobile Congress.

CCI approves Reliance-Disney India $8.5 billion merger

On his telecom business, Ambani said that Jio’s network carries nearly 8% of global mobile traffic, surpassing even major global operators, including those in developed markets.

“Jio’s commitment to affordability has made its services accessible to all, with current data prices that are one-fourth of the global average and just 10% of those in developed countries.”

“In eight years, Jio has grown to become the world’s largest mobile data company. Today, Jio is a 490-million-strong family, reflecting the immense trust and loyalty of our customers. And each Jio customer, on average, uses over 30 GB of data monthly, driving a 33% growth in our data traffic over the past year. Among business users, over a million small and medium businesses in India have embraced Jio. We are proud to be the trusted partner for over 80% of the top 5000 large enterprises in the country,” said Ambani.

On his mainstay Oil-to-Chemical business, Ambani said that over the past year, they faced a complex global landscape, characterised by geopolitical conflicts and weak economic growth in Western countries, leading to subdued demand. On the supply side, he said that large-scale capacity additions, particularly in China, created a surplus, causing significant fluctuations in fuel and downstream chemical margins, with some dropping to multi-year lows.

“Despite these challenges, I am pleased to report that Reliance navigated through the headwinds to deliver industry-leading performance. The O2C business achieved revenues of ₹5,64,749 crore ($67.9 billion) and an EBITDA of ₹62,393 crore ($7.5 billion) last year,” said Ambani.

Ambani also informed that RIL spent ₹3,643 crore ($437 million) in FY24 towards R&D, taking their spend on research to over ₹11,000 crore ($1.5 billion) in the last four years alone. He said that Reliance is transforming itself into a deep-tech company.

On the emerging new energy business, Ambani said that by the end of this year, they would commence the production of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. “In the following quarters, we will complete the first phase of our integrated solar production facilities. This includes modules, cells, glass, wafer, ingot, and polysilicon, with an initial annual capacity of 10 GW,” he said.

He also said that they have begun construction of an integrated advanced chemistry-based battery manufacturing facility with a 30 GWh annual capacity at Jamnagar. Production here commence by the second half of next year.

Isha Ambani, who heads the retail business, said that they are confident of achieving the goal of doubling retail business in the next three to four years.

-PTI