Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian
multinational conglomerate headquartered in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
. Its businesses include
energy
Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...
,
petrochemicals,
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
,
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...
,
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...
,
telecommunications
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
,
mass media
Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication.
Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...
, and
textiles
Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
. Reliance is the largest public company in India by
market capitalisation and revenue, and the 86th largest company worldwide.
It is India's largest private tax payer and largest exporter, accounting for 7% of India's total merchandise exports.
The company has attracted controversy for reports of
political corruption
Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...
,
cronyism
Cronyism is a specific form of in-group favoritism, the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. ...
, fraud,
financial manipulation, and exploitation of its customers, Indian citizens, and natural resources.
Its chairman,
Mukesh Ambani, has been described as a
plutocrat.
History
1958–1985
Reliance Commercial Corporation was set up in 1958 by
Dhirubhai Ambani as a small venture firm trading commodities, especially spices and polyester yarn.
In 1965, the partnership ended and Dhirubhai continued the
polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
business of the firm. In 1966, Reliance Textiles Industries Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
. It established a
synthetic fabrics mill in the same year at
Naroda in
Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
.
On 8 May 1973, it became Reliance Textiles Industries Limited. In 1975, the company expanded its business into textiles, with "Vimal" becoming its major brand in later years. The company held its
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
(IPO) in 1977.
The issue was over-subscribed by seven times. In 1979, a textiles company Sidhpur Mills was amalgamated with the company. In 1980, the company expanded its polyester yarn business by setting up a Polyester Filament Yarn Plant in Patalganga,
Raigad, Maharashtra with financial and technical collaboration with
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., U.S.
1981–2000
In 1985, the name of the company was changed from ''Reliance Textiles Industries Ltd.'' to ''Reliance Industries Ltd.''
[ During 1985 to 1992, the company expanded its installed capacity for producing ]polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...
yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. '' Thread'' is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern ...
by over 145,000 tonnes per annum.[
The Hazira petrochemical plant was commissioned in 1991–92.]
In 1993, Reliance turned to the overseas capital markets for funds through a global depository issue of Reliance Petroleum. In 1996, it became the first private sector company in India to be rated by international credit rating agencies
A credit rating agency (CRA, also called a ratings service) is a company that assigns credit ratings, which rate a debtor's ability to pay back debt by making timely principal and interest payments and the likelihood of default. An agency may r ...
. S&P rated Reliance "BB+, stable outlook, constrained by the sovereign ceiling". Moody's rated "Baa3, Investment grade, constrained by the sovereign ceiling".
In 1995/96, the company entered the telecommunications industry
The telecommunications industry within the sector of information and communication technology comprises all telecommunication/ telephone companies and Internet service providers, and plays a crucial role in the evolution of mobile communications ...
through a joint venture with NYNEX, USA, and promoted Reliance Telecom Private Limited in India.[
In 1998, Reliance took over Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited during privatization of public sector enterprises.
In 1998/99, RIL introduced packaged LPG in 15 kg cylinders under the brand name ''Reliance Gas''.][
The years 1998–2000 saw the construction of the integrated petrochemical complex at Jamnagar in ]Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
,[ the largest refinery in the world.
]
2001 onwards
In 2001, Reliance Industries Ltd. and Reliance Petroleum Ltd. became India's two largest companies in terms of all major financial parameters. In 2001–02, Reliance Petroleum was merged with Reliance Industries.[
In 2002, Reliance announced India's biggest gas discovery (at the Krishna Godavari basin) in nearly three decades and one of the largest gas discoveries in the world during 2002. The in-place volume of natural gas was more than 7 trillion cubic feet, equivalent to about 120 crore (1.2 billion) barrels of crude oil. This was the first-ever discovery by an Indian private sector company.][
In 2002–03, RIL purchased a majority stake in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (IPCL), India's second largest petrochemicals company, from the government of India, RIL took over IPCL's Vadodara Plants and renamed it as Vadodara Manufacturing Division (VMD). IPCL's Nagothane and Dahej manufacturing complexes came under RIL when IPCL was merged with RIL in 2008.
In 2005 and 2006, the company reorganised its business by demerging its investments in power generation and distribution, financial services and telecommunication services into four separate entities.]
In 2006, Reliance entered the organised retail market in India with the launch of its retail store format under the brand name of ' Reliance Fresh'. By the end of 2008, Reliance Retail had close to 600 stores across 57 cities in India.[
In November 2009, Reliance Industries issued 1:1 bonus shares to its shareholders.
In 2010, Reliance entered the broadband services market with acquisition of Infotel Broadband Services Limited, which was the only successful bidder for pan-India fourth-generation (4G) spectrum auction held by the government of India.
In the same year, Reliance and BP announced a partnership in the oil and gas business. BP took a 30 per cent stake in 23 oil and gas production sharing contracts that Reliance operates in India, including the KG-D6 block for $7.2 billion.] Reliance also formed a 50:50 joint venture with BP for sourcing and marketing of gas in India.
In 2017, RIL set up a joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
with Russian Company Sibur for setting up a Butyl rubber plant in Jamnagar, Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
, to be operational by 2018.
In August 2019, Reliance added Fynd primarily for its consumer businesses and mobile phone services in the e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
space.
In December 2022, Reliance Industries Market cap stood at .
In February 2024, Reliance Industries Ltd. and The Bharat GPT group announced that it will launch large language model (LLM), Hanuman's AI system in March 2024. The model will work in 11 local languages in four major areas: health
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
, governance
Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...
, financial services
Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...
and education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
.
In February 2024, Reliance and The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
announced a deal to merge their streaming and television assets. The deal was closed in November 2024, with the Disney Star joint venture having a reported value of $8.5 billion.
In October 2024, Reliance entered into an agreement with Nvidia
Nvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang (president and CEO), Chris Malachowsky, and Curti ...
to procure Blackwell chips for its planned data centre in Jamnagar.
Shareholding
The number of shares of RIL are approx. 644.51 crore (6.44 billion). The promoter group, the Ambani family, holds 50.39% of the total shares whereas the remaining 49.61% shares are held by public shareholders, including FII and corporate bodies. Life Insurance Corporation of India, public sector company, is the largest non-promoter investor in the company, with 6.49% shareholding.
In January 2012, the company announced a buyback program to buy a maximum of 12 crore (120 million) shares for . By the end of January 2013, the company had bought back 4.62 crore (46.2 million) shares for .
Listing
The company's equity shares are listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) and the BSE Limited. The Global Depository Receipt
A global depository receipt (GDR and sometimes spelled ''depositary'') is a general name for a depositary receipt where a certificate issued by a depository bank, which purchases Share (finance), shares of foreign companies, creates a Security ( ...
s (GDRs) issued by the company are listed on London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
. It has issued approx. 5.6 crore (56 million) GDRs wherein each GDR is equivalent to two equity shares of the company. Approximately 3.46% of its total shares are listed on Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
Its debt securities are listed at the Wholesale Debt Market (WDM) Segment of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE).
It has received domestic credit ratings of AAA from CRISIL (S&P subsidiary) and Fitch. Moody's and S&P have provided investment grade ratings for international debt of the company, as Baa2 positive outlook (local currency issuer rating) and BBB+ outlook respectively.
On 28 December 2017, RIL announced that it will be acquiring the wireless assets of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications for about ₹23,000 crores.
Operations
The company's petrochemical
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...
, refining
Refining is the process of purification of a (1) substance or a (2) form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, but which is more useful in its pure form. For instance, most types of natural petroleum w ...
, and oil and gas-related operations form the core of its business; other divisions of the company include cloth, retail, telecommunications, and special economic zone
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
(SEZ) development.
In July 2012, RIL informed that it was going to invest US$1 billion over the next few years in its new aerospace division which will design, develop and manufacture equipment and components, including aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
, engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
, radars, avionics
Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...
and accessories for military and civilian aircraft, helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s, unmanned airborne vehicles, and aerostats.
In July 2024, Reliance Industries was granted the approval by United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to resume importing oil from Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
.
The company had more than 200 subsidiary companies and more than 15 associate companies as of 2024. In fiscal year 2024, the company generated 65% of its sales in India and 35% outside India.
Subsidiaries
Jio Platforms
Jio Platforms Limited, essentially a technology company, is a majority-owned subsidiary of RIL. It has a valuation of more than billion on expert view as of October 2022. It is the result of a corporate restructuring announced in October 2019, resulting in all the digital initiatives and the telecommunication assets being housed under this new subsidiary. This new subsidiary holds all the digital business assets including Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which in turn holds the Jio connectivity business - mobile, broadband and enterprise, and also the other digital assets (Jio Apps, Tech backbone and Investments in other tech entities like Haptic, Hathway and Den Networks among others). In April 2020, RIL announced a strategic investment of by Facebook into Jio Platforms. This investment translated into a 9.99% equity stake, on a fully diluted basis. Further in May 2020, RIL sold roughly 1.15% stake in Jio Platforms for to the American private equity investor, Silver Lake Partners. Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
became the 12th company to invest in Reliance Jio platforms after it invested ₹1,894.50 crore ($250 million), the total investments in Jio platforms is ₹117,588.45 crore so far. On 16 July 2020, Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
announced that it will acquire a 7.7% stake in Jio Platforms for . Mukesh Ambani has named his son, Akash Mukesh Ambani as the chairperson of Jio in 2022.
Reliance Retail
Reliance Retail is the retail business wing of the Reliance Industries. In March 2013, it had 1466 stores in India. It is the largest retailer in India. Many brands like Reliance Fresh, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Time Out, Reliance Digital, Reliance Wellness, Reliance Trends, Reliance Autozone, Reliance Super, Reliance Mart, Reliance iStore, Reliance Home Kitchens, Reliance Market (Cash n Carry) and Reliance Jewel come under the Reliance Retail brand. Its annual revenue for the financial year 2012–13 was with an EBITDA of . Its market value is more than $60 billion. Mukesh Ambani stepped down from the position of chairperson of Reliance Retail and handed over the job to his daughter Isha Ambani Piramal. Ambani announced it during the 45th Reliance AGM, in 2022. As per reports, this act is a part of Ambani's leadership transition.
Reliance Industrial Infrastructure
Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited (RIIL) is an associate company of RIL. It was incorporated in September 1988 as Chembur Patalganga Pipelines Limited, with the main objective being to build and operate cross-country pipelines for transporting petroleum products. The company's name was subsequently changed to CPPL Limited in September 1992, and thereafter to its present name, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited, in March 1994. RIIL is mainly engaged in the business of setting up and operating industrial infrastructure. The company is also engaged in related activities involving leasing and providing services connected with computer software and data processing.
Network18 Group
Between 2011 and 2014, Reliance acquired majority stake in Network18 Group
Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief, a ...
. Through Network18, Reliance owns multiple news channels including CNN-News18 and News18 India.
Network 18 is a mass media company. It has interests in television, digital platforms, publication, mobile apps and films. It also operates two joint ventures, namely Viacom18
Viacom18 Media Private Limited is an independent Indian media conglomerate, part of JioStar. It is owned by Reliance Industries and Bodhi Tree Systems. The Organisation had various channels and content production studios in India. Following ...
and History TV18 with Viacom and A+E Networks respectively. It has also acquired a partial part of ETV Network and since renamed its channels under the Colors TV
Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. Its programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, Comedy, comedies, fantasy shows, youth-oriented Rea ...
brand.
Other
* Reliance Global Corporate Security is a private security company founded in 17 August 1998. It provides enterprise wide security to assets of Reliance Industries. It is composed of former member of the military and paramilitary forces, law enforcement agencies, intelligence services as well as technical experts from other industries.
* Reliance Life Sciences works around medical, plant and industrial biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
opportunities. It specialises in manufacturing, branding, and marketing Reliance Industries' products in bio-pharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticals
Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...
, clinical research services, regenerative medicine, molecular medicine, novel therapeutics, biofuel
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...
s, plant biotechnology, and industrial biotechnology sectors of the medical business industry.
* Embibe a Bengaluru-based EdTech start-up raised funding of ₹89.91 crores from RIL in February 2020. Over three years, Reliance Industries had invested around $180 million in the start-up. A part of it was towards acquiring a stake of 72.69% from Embibe's existing investors. In December 2019, Embibe, under the proprietary name (Individual Learning Private Limited), announced that it picked up equity shares in Bengaluru-based K12 startup Funtoot (eDreams Edusoft). The deal was capped at ₹71.64 crores in cash, which holds 90.5% of the equity share capital of Funtoot. In February 2020, it acquired the rival platform OnlineTyari.
* Reliance Logistics is a single-window company selling transportation, distribution, warehousing, logistics, and supply chain-related products. Reliance Logistics is an asset based company with its own fleet and infrastructure. It provides logistics services to Reliance group companies and outsiders.
* Reliance Solar, the solar energy subsidiary of Reliance, was established to produce and retail solar energy systems primarily to remote and rural areas. It offers a range of products based on solar energy: solar lanterns, home lighting systems, street lighting systems, water purification systems, refrigeration systems and solar air conditioners. In 2022 RIL AGM, Mukesh Ambani specified that his youngest son Anant Ambani will take over the new energy business.
* Reliance Eros Productions LLP, joint venture with Eros International to produce film content in India.
* Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL which provides financial services. The Company owns securities of companies other than banks, as well as offers investment services. RIIHL bought majority stakes in two companies - logistics firm Grab A Grub Services Private Limited and software company C-Square Info Solutions - for over ₹146 crores in March 2019. RIIHL also sponsored the Tower Investment trust
An investment trust is a form of investment fund found mostly in the United Kingdom and Japan. Investment trusts are constituted as Public limited company, public limited companies and are therefore closed ended since the fund managers cannot red ...
(InvITs) for the acquisition of 49% equity in RJio's tower assets for ₹25,215 crores by the Canadian asset management firm Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. On 22 April 2021, RIIHL acquired the entire issued share capital of Stoke Park Ltd, company that owns and manages sporting and leisure facilities in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire for £57 million.
* Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL bought a 51.78% stake in robotics and AI firm Asteria Aerospace for ₹23.12 crore and an 85% stake in NowFloats Technologies for ₹141.63 crores in Dec 2019. It also holds 18.83% in EIH Limited, the flagship company of The Oberoi Group, one of the largest luxury hotel chains in India. In November 2019, RSBVL invested an undisclosed amount in SkyTran Inc. for 12.7%, increased it further to 26.3% by April 2020. In February 2021, RIL became the majority stakeholder with 54.46% with an additional investment of $26.76 million.
* Reliance Sibur is a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Silbur in the business of making synthetic rubber.
* Relicord is a cord blood banking service owned by Reliance Life Sciences. It was established in 2002. It has been inspected and accredited by AABB, and also has been accorded a licence by Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Government of India.
* Reliance Institute of Life Sciences (RILS), established by Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation, is an institution offering higher education in various fields of life sciences and related technologies.
* Reliance Clinical Research Services (RCRS), a contract research organisation (CRO) and wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Life Sciences, specialises in the clinical research services industry. Its clients are primarily pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies.
* LYF, a 4G-enabled VoLTE device brand from Reliance Retail.
* Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd. is a 100% subsidiary that owns the Mumbai Indians men's and women's professional T20 franchise cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
teams, playing in the IPL and WPL respectively. Besides, they also own various teams across different leagues globally such as the MI Cape Town, MI Emirates, MI New York teams in the SA20, ILT20 and the MLC leagues respectively.
Former holdings
In March 2017, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) completed the sale process of its 76% equity stake in Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
-based oil retailer Gulf Africa Petroleum Corp (GAPCO) to Total Marketing & Services, a subsidiary of the French oil and gas firm Total SE.
The East West Pipeline has been acquired by India Infrastructure Trust, which is owned by Brookfield Asset Management for a consideration of crore
Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...
.
Criticism and controversies
The company has attracted controversy for reports of political corruption
Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...
, cronyism
Cronyism is a specific form of in-group favoritism, the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. ...
, fraud, financial manipulation, and exploitation of its customers, Indian citizens, and natural resources. The chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, has been described as a plutocrat.
ONGC litigation
In May 2014, ONGC moved to Delhi High Court accusing RIL of pilferage of 18 billion cubic metres of gas from its gas-producing block in the Krishna Godavari basin. Subsequently, the two companies agreed to form an independent expert panel to probe any pilferage.
Cronyism
''Seminar'' magazine (2003) detailed Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani's proximity to politicians, his enmity with Bombay Dyeing's Nusli Wadia, the exposes by the Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
and Arun Shourie about illegal imports by the company and overseas share transactions by shell companies, and the botched attempt to acquire Larsen & Toubro.
As early as 1996, ''Outlook'' magazine addressed other controversies related to fake and switched shares; insider trading; and a nexus with the state-owned Unit Trust of India. Five main allegations concerning Reliance, which have plunged the Indian capital markets into a period of uncertainty unsurpassed since the days of the securities scam were:
* Reliance issued fake shares.
* It switched shares sent for transfer by buyers to make illegal profits.
* It indulged in insider trading in shares.
* It established a nexus with the Unit Trust of India to raise huge sums of money to the detriment of UTI subscribers.
* It attempted to monopolize the private telecom services market through front companies.
2005 Criminal investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet in a Mumbai court against Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and four retired employees of National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), including a former CMD, under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act for criminal conspiracy and other charges. Acting on a reference from CVC in March 2005, the CBI started probing the conspiracy that led to the filing of the charge sheet on 9 December 2011. The 2005 complaint had alleged irregularities in the issuance of insurance policies — for coverage of default payments — by NICL to RIL. The charge sheet also mentioned criminal offenses with dishonest intention and causing wrongful loss totaling ₹147.41 crores to NICL and wrongful gain to the private telecom provider.
Two retired senior officials of National Insurance Company Limited and 11 others were awarded varying jail terms by a Delhi court in Jan 2014.
RIL plane grounded
A business jet owned by Reliance Industries (RIL) was grounded by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 22 March 2014 during a surprise inspection, for carrying expired safety equipment on board; its pilot was also suspended for flying without a license.
Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin gas controversy
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was supposed to relinquish 25% of the total area outside the discoveries in 2004 and 2005, as per the Production Sharing Contract (PSC). However, the entire block was declared as a discovery area and RIL was allowed to retain it. In 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) criticized the Oil Ministry for this decision. The CAG also faulted RIL for limiting the competition in contracts, stating that RIL awarded a $1.1 billion contract to Aker on a single-bid basis.
Petition against Reliance Jio
A PIL filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, through Prashant Bhushan, challenged the grant of a pan-India license to RJIL by the Government of India. The PIL alleged that RJIL was allowed to provide voice telephony along with its 4G data service, by paying an additional fee of just INR 16,580 million (US$280 million) which was arbitrary and unreasonable and contributed to a loss of INR 228,420 million (US$3.8 billion) to the exchequer.
The CAG in its draft report alleged rigging of the auction mechanism, whereby an unknown ISP, Infotech Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, acquired the spectrum by bidding 5000 times its net worth, after which the company was sold to Reliance Industries.
Future Retail deal and possession
In February 2022, Reliance terminated the leases of hundreds of Future Retail locations, the next largest retail chain in India, and took possession of those brick-and-mortar shops. Future Retail had a deal to sell its assets to Reliance, but that deal was contested by Amazon.com, which in 2019 acquired a stake in a subunit of Future Retail along with certain rights with respect to the transfer of the retailer's assets. Reliance's possessions came after rounds of legal wrangling, including a 2020 arbitration in Singapore and an antitrust review by the Competition Commission of India.
Stock manipulation and penalty
For manipulating shares of Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL), Reliance Industries was fined Rs. 950 crore (about 447 crore in retracted gains and 500 crore in interest) in 2007. In April 2006, RPL went public as a Reliance subsidiary at a price of Rs. 60 per share. The market crashed by 30% after it floated at roughly Rs. 100, and RPL was back at 60. In accordance with Securities and Exchange Board of India directive, RIL carried out an organised operation with the help of its agents in order to obtain unauthorised profits from the trading of its formerly listed unit, RPL, which was combined with the former in 2009.
Reliance's Business Ties with Russia
Reliance Industries has faced criticism for maintaining business relations with Russia despite international sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The company has engaged in energy deals with Russian oil giant Rosneft, raising concerns about its alignment with global efforts to reduce economic ties with Russia. Reliance has been listed on * Leave Russia*, a platform tracking companies still active in the Russian market, further intensifying scrutiny over its role in facilitating Russian energy exports.
Reliance demerger and family feud
The Ambani family holds around 45% of the shares in RIL. Since its inception, the company was managed by its founder and chairman Dhirubhai Ambani. After suffering a stroke in 1986, he handed over the daily operations of the company to his sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani. After the death of Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002, the management of the company was taken up by both the brothers. In November 2004, Mukesh Ambani, in an interview, admitted to having differences with his brother Anil over 'ownership issues'. He also said that the differences "are in the private domain". The share prices of RIL were impacted by some margin when this news broke out. In 2005, after a bitter public feud between the brothers over the control of the Reliance empire, mother Kokilaben intervened to broker a deal splitting the RIL group business into two parts. In October 2005, the split of Reliance Group was formalised. Mukesh Ambani got Reliance Industries and IPCL. Younger brother Anil Ambani received telecom, power, entertainment, and financial services business of the group. The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group includes Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Capital, Reliance Natural Resources and Reliance Power.
The division of Reliance group business between the two brothers also resulted in de-merger of 4 businesses from RIL. These businesses immediately became part of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The existing shareholders in RIL, both the promoter group and non-promoters, received shares in the de-merged companies.[
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Awards and recognition
* International Refiner of the year in 2017 at Global Refining and Petrochemicals Congress 2017
* International Refiner of the Year in 2013 at the HART Energy's 27th World Refining & Fuel Conference. This is the second time that RIL has received this Award for its Jamnagar Refinery, the first being in 2005.
* The Brand Trust Report ranked Reliance Industries as the 7th most trusted brand in India in 2013 and 9th in 2014.
* RIL was certified as ' Responsible Care Company' by the American Chemistry Council in March 2012.
* RIL was ranked at 25th position across the world, on the basis of sales, in the ICIS Top 100 Chemicals Companies list in 2012.
* RIL was awarded the National Golden Peacock Award 2011 for its contribution in the field of corporate sustainability.
* In 2009, Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...
(BCG) named Reliance Industries as the world's fifth biggest 'sustainable value creator' in a list of 25 top companies globally in terms of investor returns over a decade.
* The company was selected as one of the world's 100 best managed companies for the year 2000 by IndustryWeek magazine.
* From 1994 to 1997, the company won National Energy Conservation Award in the petrochemical sector.[
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See also
* List of companies of India
India is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous country (with over Demographics of India, 1.4 b ...
* Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex
* Reliance Group
* Dhirubhai Ambani
References
Further reading
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External links
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Conglomerate companies of India
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