Reliance aims Big

Reliance Industries hopes to be among the world's top 50 companies as it implements game-changing projects with an investment of Rs.1,80,000 crore in three years to make it a major player in telecom and retail besides its traditional business of oil exploration and refining & petrochemicals, chairman Mukesh Ambani said.
“We are currently at the mid-point of the largest investment programme in Reliance's history . The next two years -2014-15 and 2015-16 -will see us focussed on executing and progressively bringing these projects on-stream in petrochemicals, refining, retail and Jio (the telecom project). The year 2016-17 will be the first full year in which the complete benefits of these investments will be available to our shareholders, consumers and the society ,“ Ambani told shareholders at RIL's 40th Annual General Meeting.
Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, was inducted on the board of the company at the company's 40th Annual General Meeting.
“We are delighted to welcome her (Nita Ambani) to the board of Reliance Industries as an accomplished individual and the founder chairperson of Reliance Foundation for furthering the growth agenda of Reliance,“ Mukesh Ambani said at the meeting.
The Ambanis' two sons, Akash and Anant were present, and Nita Ambani touched the feet of family matriarch Kokilaben Ambani, whose husband Dhirubhai founded Reliance.
Mukesh Ambani pointed out that Nita had been involved in various initiatives that strengthened RIL as a company -including the township at Jamnagar, integrated office campuses, design of consumer touch-points for Reliance Retail, besides spearheading Reliance Foundation, which manages RIL's corporate social responsibility spends. In FY14, that spend touched Rs.712 crore which represents over 3% of the company's profit. RIL's CSR spend is one of the highest in the country and also higher than the new Companies Act 2013 mandate of keeping aside 2% of three-year average annual net profit for CSR activities.
In her acceptance statement, Nita Ambani said she took the position with a sense of humility and responsibility. “RIL has always aimed to better millions of lives and my mission will be to bring speed, scale and social contract to RIL's larger mission. I accept this responsibility as a tribute to millions of RIL stakeholders, as well as to my tireless colleagues at Reliance Foundation,“ she said.
While RIL's head and executive said that Nita Ambani's appointment has been a natural progression from the role that she has been playing with Reliance Foundations, critics believe that the company chose to induct her on the board to fulfill new norms in the Companies Act, which state that all listed companies and those public firms with paid up share capital of  Rs.100 crore or more should have at least one woman director on the board.