6.7.18

RIL to double its size in 7 yrs: Ambani

Reliance Industries — the country’s second largest company by market value — plans to double its size in the next seven years, tracking the economy’s growth story.

“India’s prosperity and Reliance’s progress have been closely intertwined in every phase of our journey so far. As India starts on its high growth journey to double the size of its economy by 2025, I assure you that the size of Reliance will more than double in the same period,” said RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani.

The $66-billion RIL clocked a net profit of nearly $6 billion in fiscal 2018 with its refining and petrochemicals businesses accounting for the bulk of it. But with the company increasing its investments in consumer-facing businesses like telecom and retail, their contribution to RIL’s overall earnings is expected to rise significantly in the future. The energy giant has invested over Rs 2.50 lakh crore in the telecom business till date.

“Reliance has reached an inflection point. As the golden decade rolls on, our consumer businesses will contribute nearly as much to the overall earnings of the company as our energy and petrochemicals businesses,” said Ambani. RIL’s consumer businesses — Jio and Reliance Retail — together accounted for 13% of the company’s consolidated operating profit of about $10 billion in fiscal 2018, up from a mere 2% in fiscal 2017.

Ambani had earlier said that the company will look to unlock value in the consumer businesses when they attain a certain level, but hadn’t spelled out any specifics. Bloomberg had reported that Jio could go for an initial public offering.

With RIL investing significantly in building a digital infrastructure system, Jio has enabled it to strategically reinvent itself as a technology platform company, said Ambani. “Digital platforms have become the new-age factories and service providers.”

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