Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the oil-to-telecom conglomerate led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first Indian listed company to cross the Rs 20 lakh crore market capitalisation mark on Tuesday.
The stock of RIL surged 1.88 per cent to hit a record high of Rs 2,918 on NSE and Rs 2,957.8 on BSE, taking its market value to Rs 20.06 lakh crore. The company’s share price has risen nearly 14 per cent this year and almost 40 per cent in the past 12 months, outperforming the benchmark indices.
RIL’s market cap is more than the combined value of the next three most valuable companies in India – Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 13.77 lakh crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 8.66 lakh crore) and Hindustan Unilever (Rs 5.97 lakh crore).
What drives RIL’s growth?
RIL’s stellar performance is driven by its diversified business portfolio, which spans across sectors such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, retail, telecom, digital services and media. The company has been investing heavily in these segments to expand its market share and customer base.
One of the key growth drivers for RIL is its telecom arm Reliance Jio, which has emerged as the largest wireless operator in India with over 440 million subscribers as of December 2021. Jio has also launched its affordable smartphone JioPhone Next in partnership with Google, aiming to tap into the huge potential of the feature phone users who want to upgrade to smartphones.
Another growth driver for RIL is its retail business, which operates over 12,000 stores across India under various formats such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends and Reliance Jewels. The retail segment reported a revenue of Rs 41,296 crore and an EBITDA of Rs 3,102 crore for the quarter ended December 2021, registering a growth of 46 per cent and 53 per cent respectively year-on-year.
RIL is also betting big on its digital services platform Jio Platforms, which offers a range of services such as e-commerce, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, gaming, education and healthcare. Jio Platforms has attracted investments from global giants such as Facebook, Google, Intel, Qualcomm and Silver Lake Partners, valuing it at over $65 billion.
RIL’s core business of oil and gas also remains resilient despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and volatile crude prices. The company’s oil-to-chemicals (O2C) segment reported a revenue of Rs 1.03 lakh crore and an EBITDA of Rs 15,264 crore for the quarter ended December 2021, growing by 75 per cent and 49 per cent respectively year-on-year.
What lies ahead for Reliance Industries?
RIL has set an ambitious target of becoming a net carbon zero company by 2035, which will entail a massive transformation of its O2C business into a green energy and materials company. The company plans to invest over $10 billion in renewable energy projects such as solar power, hydrogen fuel cells and battery storage over the next three years.
RIL is also exploring new opportunities in sectors such as healthcare, education and agriculture through its digital platforms. The company aims to leverage its data and technology capabilities to offer innovative solutions that can improve the quality of life of millions of Indians.
RIL’s vision is to become a leading global player in the new energy and digital economy, while creating value for its shareholders, customers and society at large.
Data and quotes
Here are some data and quotes from various sources that support the above article:
- According to NSE data, RIL’s market cap reached Rs 20.06 lakh crore at 10:21 am on Tuesday.
- “Reliance Industries continues to be a leader in India’s corporate landscape,” said Abhimanyu Sofat, head of research at IIFL Securities.
- “Jio’s network superiority remains intact with best-in-class voice quality,” said Jefferies analysts in a note after RIL’s Q3 results.
- “Reliance Retail continues to be amongst the fastest growing retailers globally despite its large base,” said RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani in a statement.
- “Jio Platforms is conceived with vision of developing original, captive intellectual property, using which we can demonstrate transformative power of technology across multiple ecosystems – first in India, and then rest of world,” said RIL director and Jio Platforms chairman Ravi Shankar Prasad at a virtual event.
- “We have made strong progress across our O2C transformation, with the start-up and commissioning of our new Paraxylene complex and the ethylene glycol plant,” said RIL executive director PMS Prasad in a statement.
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