Reliance Industries, a telecom and energy conglomerate, made a number of significant statements at its annual general meeting on Thursday. These included intentions to rank among the top 30 corporations globally, a proposal to issue 1:1 bonus shares, and specific timetables for its new energy division.
The market was looking for a major announcement on the company’s retail and telecom businesses being listed, but its chairman and managing director, Mukesh Ambani, withheld any information on this front.
In his opening remarks, Ambani told the investors that the board of directors of the business would convene on September 5 to discuss and suggest issuing 1:1 bonus shares, the first such issuance since 2017.
During his introductory speech, Ambani shared his goal for RIL, which calls for it to move up from its present ranking among the world’s 50 most valuable firms to the top 30 in the near future. He credited RIL’s “strategic adoption of Deep-Tech and Advanced Manufacturing” for the anticipated increase.
According to him, Reliance is now a net producer of technology. “Becoming A Deep-Tech and Advanced Manufacturing Company” was the focus of this year’s speech.
Ambani gave the new energy division the same priority and predicted that it would grow to be just as big and successful in the next five to seven years as the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) industry, which has been developed during the previous forty years.
Prospects
“We think that our New Energy business will be genuinely distinctive, providing less cyclical and more consistent cash flows,” Ambani stated. In the following three to four years, he also predicted that Jio, a digital services company, and Reliance Retail will both treble their revenues and EBITDA. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation is known as EBITDA.
“Overall, the Reliance Group is well on track to more than double in size before the end of this decade and grow faster in the decades ahead,” Ambani stated in reference to the group’s combined businesses.
RIL said on Thursday in a major highlights announcement that a “solid foundation will ensure doubling of value by 2027.”
Ambani also met the expectations of the public by providing a detailed timetable for the new energy industry. He stated that production on the batteries will start in the second half of 2026, and RIL’s electrolyser manufacturing unit would be functioning by then.
In order to serve the utility-scale applications, the company will first assemble Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and pack solutions for the telecom, mobility, commercial, and industrial markets.
“We will integrate backward to cell manufacturing over the next few quarters, and eventually to battery chemicals production,” he declared.
According to Ambani, RIL will gradually phase in the addition of solar production plants at GW size that will operate continuously by 2026. RIL had previously said that it intended to build 20 Gw of solar energy generation capacity by 2025.
By stating that the company’s coastal infrastructure, which includes 2,000 acres of land at Kandla port, will provide a strategic advantage for generating, storing, evacuating, and transporting green fuels both within India and abroad, Ambani also alluded to intentions to export green fuels.
fresh financial commitments
Plans to establish 55 Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants by 2025, initiate an energy plantation pilot project for an integrated CBG plant, and add 1.5 million tonnes of PVC and CPVC capacity and 1 million tonnes of speciality polyester capacity by 2026–2027 were some of the new investments that were announced.
Ambani went on to say that RIL intends to increase the number of its Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), which are used to source ethane from North America, from the current six to nine.
RIL will use its experience in exploration and production of oil and gas to create low-carbon energy sources like as helium, natural hydrogen, geothermal energy, and underground coal gasification.
The executive director of the company’s retail division, Reliance Retail, Isha Ambani, revealed plans to introduce a carefully chosen, design-led line of luxury jewels. “To expand its market reach, the company is also investigating the fashion jewellery and accessories segment,” the spokesperson stated.
Decrease in direct employment
Speaking on the reduction in direct employment at RIL, Ambani stated that the organisation was moving away from the conventional direct employment strategy and towards more modern incentive-based engagement models. “That is the reason why, even though Reliance has created more employment overall, the direct employment numbers show a slight dip in the annual figures,” he stated.