Mukesh Ambani pinning a lot on Jio.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries Ltd. has announced that it will invest an incredible $30 billion, or Rs. 1.8 lakh crore, into several of its most promising existing and upcoming ventures over the next three years.
The announcement came from Reliance head Mukesh Ambani, who told shareholders at Reliance’s 40th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday that the investment will go towards strengthening the company’s petrochemical, petroleum refining and marketing, oil and gas, retail, and Jio divisions, as well as its upcoming 3G mobile broadband service, which is expected to launch in 2015.
Additionally, the company hopes to break into the Fortune 50, a prestigious list of the 50 largest corporations in the entire world. Ambani told the assembled shareholders that he will also be using this money to fortify Reliance’s leadership, to make sure that “We hope to accomplish as much in the next three years as we have achieved in the past 37 years.”
Ambani spent a large portion of his time talking about Jio, which is also set to launch next year, and is the company’s Rs. 70,000 crore initiative to usher India even further into the digital economy. Ambani said that Jio will create millions of new jobs and will allow entrepreneurs even more opportunities to expand their businesses via online and digital services.
Reliance’s retail division is also expected to see a significant upsurge, with hundreds of new stores opening over the next few years. The company’s oil, petrochemical, and gas interests – which are what the company has largely been built on – will also see huge new improvements and projects, including a pipeline from Shahdol to Phulpur, for which the company has already received permission.
The overall takeaway from Ambani’s presentation is that Reliance is committed to growing, and in doing so, bringing India up with it. As India’s largest private sector company, and the 135th largest corporation in the world, Reliance’s commitment to staying on the sub-continent is good news for a country that just elected business-savvy Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I reiterate that Reliance’s faith in India is as robust as ever. It has been the very foundation of creation and character of Reliance,” said Ambani. “In every sense, Reliance will be moving from investing in India’s economic future to integrating deeper with India’s social fabric.”