Reliance Industries on Wednesday said it will invest Rs. 1.8 lakh crore across businesses in the next three years and launch the much-awaited 4G broadband services in 2015 as it looks to break into the top 50 companies of the world.
RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, the world’s richest energy billionaire, unveiled his vision to achieve in next three years what the firm had done in 37 years of its listed history.
Addressing the 40 th annual general meeting of RIL, Mr. Ambani said Rs. 1,80,000 crore will be invested in margin-enhancing petrochem units, expansion of energy business, opening more retail stores and roll-out of telecom business.
RIL’s telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is the only company to have nationwide permits for 4G services, will start rolling out broadband services in the coming months.
It will begin with field trials in August and commercial launch in 2015, he said. Mr. Ambani said the company, which last fiscal became the biggest retailer in the country by revenue, is aiming doubling revenue from its retail business every 3-4 years.
While it looks to raising output from its eastern offshore gas fields, RIL will in 2015-16 begin extracting gas from coal seams (coal-bed methane or CBM) from Sohagpur blocks in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Ambani said.
His mother Kokila Ambani, wife Nita Ambani and children were also present on the occasion.
RIL, which is currently ranked at 135 on the Fortune 500 list of global companies, is looking at breaking into the top 50, Mr. Ambani said.
Meanwhile, Nita Ambani was on Wednesday inducted into the company board.
“In the past 37 years, we invested Rs. 2,40,000 crore, and in this current three years’ investment cycle, we will be investing over Rs. 1,80,000 crore,” Mr. Ambani said.
Stating that RIL was at the mid-point of the investment cycle in its history, he said the projects in petrochemicals, refining, retail and telecom will come on stream over the next two fiscals.
“The next three years are transformational in RIL’s journey... By the time we finish four decades since our first public offering, we will again be a radically different company. We hope to accomplish as much in the next three years as we have achieved in the past 37 years,” he said.
“Over the next three years, the commissioning of each of our large projects in petrochemicals and refining, strengthening of our retail business and the launch of Jio business will propel us closer to our aspiration of being a Fortune 50 company as we complete 40 years of our corporate journey,” he said.
On its flagging oil and gas business, he said efforts are on to maximise production from the existing fields even as the firm’s three-year old partnership with BP resulted in two significant discoveries in KG D6 and CYD5 blocks.
“Timely regulatory approvals and market-based gas prices are the key to developing these resources,” he said, adding RIL and its partners have initiated the arbitration against the government, seeking revision in gas prices that were due on April 1.
This arbitration is besides the one it had initiated previously against penalties levied for producing less than targets.
“We will endeavour to work with the government for both the arbitrations to achieve prompt and efficient resolution on the matter,” he said.
Mr. Ambani said with the development of CBM blocks in Madhya Pradesh, RIL will become the largest player in the unconventional energy sector in India.
