Reliance Industries | How big is Reliance Industries | Why it is No 1 Stock to Invest

RIL first Indian company to cross ₹ 8 trillion market cap

 The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today become the first Indian company to cross ₹ 8 trillion market capitalization after its shares surged nearly 38% this year. RIL share prices rose 1.86% to close at a record high of ₹1,269.70 on BSE, pegging its market cap at ₹ 8.05 trillion after data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed Reliance Jio continued to add subscribers at a healthy pace. India’s benchmark Sensex Index rose 0.13% to 38,336.76 points.

Reliance Industries

The company was co-founded by Dhirubhai Ambani and Champaklal Damani in the 1960s as Reliance Commercial Corporation. In 1965, the partnership ended and Dhirubhai continued the polyester business of the firm. In 1966, Reliance Textiles Industries Pvt Ltd was incorporated in Maharashtra. It established a synthetic fabrics mill in the same year at Naroda in Gujarat. 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 (IPO) in 1977.^[13] 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 the years 1985 to 1992, the company expanded its installed capacity for producing polyester yarn 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 depositary issue of Reliance Petroleum. In 1996, it became the first private sector company in India to be rated by international credit rating agencies. S&P rated Reliance "BB+, stable outlook, constrained by the sovereign ceiling". Moody's rated "Baa3, Investment grade, constrained by the sovereign ceiling".^[17]

In 1995/96, the company entered the telecom industry through a joint venture with NYNEX, USA and promoted Reliance Telecom Private Limited in India.

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, 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 in excess of 7 trillion cubic feet, equivalent to about 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. IPCL was later merged with RIL in 2008.

In 2005 and 2006, the company reorganized 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 the 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 with Russian Company Sibur for setting up a Butyl rubber plant in Jamnagar, Gujarat, to be operational by 2018.

Shareholding

The number of shares of RIL is approx. 3.1 billion.. The promoter group, Ambani family, holds approx. 46.32% of the total shares whereas the remaining 53.68% of shares are held by public shareholders, including FII and corporate bodies.Life Insurance Corporation of India is the largest non-promoter investor in the company, with 7.98% shareholding.

In January 2012, the company announced a buyback programme to buy a maximum of 120 million shares for ₹104 billion(US$1.4 billion). By the end of January 2013, the company had bought back 46.2 million shares for ₹33.66 billion(US$470 million).

Listing

The company's equity shares are listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) and the BSE Limited. The Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) issued by the Company are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange It has issued approx. 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 the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.^[32]

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 the international debt of the company, as Baa2 positive outlook (local currency issuer rating) and BBB+ outlook respectively. On the 28th of December, 2017, RIL announced that it will be acquiring the wireless assets of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications for about ₹23,000 crores.

Major subsidiaries and associates

On 31 March 2013, the company had 123 subsidiary companies and 10 associate companies.

• 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 ₹108 billion (US$1.5 billion) with an EBITDA of ₹780 million (US$11 million).
• Reliance Life Sciences works around medical, plant and industrial biotechnology opportunities. It specializes in manufacturing, branding, and marketing Reliance Industries' products in biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticals, clinical research services, regenerative medicine, molecular medicine, novel therapeutics, biofuels, plant biotechnology, and industrial biotechnology sectors of the medical business industry.
• 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 Logistics is a single-window company selling transportation, distribution, warehousing, logistics, and supply chain-related products, supported by in-house telematics and telemetry solutions. Reliance Logistics is an asset based company with its own fleet and infrastructure. It provides logistics services to Reliance group companies and outsiders.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Government of India.
• Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) previously known as Infotel Broadband, is a broadband service provider which gained 4G licences for operating across India.
• Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited (RIIL) is an associate company of RIL. RIL holds 45.43% of total shares of RIIL. 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. The company set up a 200-millimetre diameter twin pipeline system that connects the Bharat Petroleum refinery at Mahul, Maharashtra, to Reliance's petrochemical complex at Patalganga, Maharashtra. The pipeline carries petroleum products including naphtha and kerosene. It has commissioned facilities like the supervisory control and data acquisition system and the cathodic protection system, a jackwell at River Tapi, and a raw water pipeline system at Hazira. The infrastructure company constructed a 71,000 kilo-litre petrochemical product storage and distribution terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Area in Maharashtra.
• LYF, a 4G-enabled VoLTE device brand from Reliance Retail.
• Network 18, a mass media company. It has interests in television, digital platforms, publication, mobile apps, and films. It also operates two joint ventures, namely Viacom 18 and History TV18 with Viacom and A+E Networks respectively. It also has acquired ETV Network and since renamed its channels under the Colors TV brand.
• Reliance Eros Productions LLP, a joint venture with Eros International.

Controversies

De-merger of RIL in 2005–2006

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 heart attack 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 the two parts.In October 2005, the split of Reliance Group was formalized. 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.

Relationship with ONGC

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.

Scams

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 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, and 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 has 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 monopolise the private telecom services market through front companies.