Reliance Industries facts for kids
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Formerly
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Reliance Commercial Corporation (1958–1966) Reliance Textiles and Engineers (1966–1973) Reliance Industries Limited (1973–present) |
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| ISIN | ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=INE002A01018 INE002A01018] |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Founder | Dhirubhai Ambani |
| Headquarters |
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India
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Mukesh Ambani (Chairman & Managing Director) |
| Products | |
| Revenue |  ₹1,000,122 crore (US$170 billion) (2024) |
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Operating income
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₹104,340 crore (US$18 billion) (2024) |
| ₹79,020 crore (US$13 billion) (2024) |
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| Total assets | ₹1,755,986 crore (US$300 billion) (2024) |
| Total equity | ₹925,788 crore (US$160 billion) (2024) |
| Owner |
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| Subsidiaries |
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Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is a huge company from India. It's a multinational business, meaning it works in many countries. Its main office is in Mumbai.
RIL does business in many different areas. These include energy, making petrochemicals (chemicals from oil and gas), natural gas, retail (selling things in stores), entertainment, telecommunications (like phone and internet services), mass media (news and TV), and textiles (making fabrics).
Reliance is the biggest public company in India. It earns the most money and has the highest market capitalisation (total value of its shares). It's also one of the top 100 largest companies in the world! Reliance pays a lot of taxes in India and exports many goods, making up 7% of India's total exports.
Contents
Company History: How Reliance Grew
Early Days: 1958 to 1980
Reliance started small in 1958 as "Reliance Commercial Corporation." It was founded by Dhirubhai Ambani. At first, it traded in goods like spices and polyester yarn.
In 1965, Dhirubhai focused on the polyester business. A year later, in 1966, "Reliance Textiles Industries Pvt. Ltd." was officially created in Maharashtra. They built a factory to make synthetic fabrics in Naroda, Gujarat.
By 1973, the company became "Reliance Textiles Industries Limited." In 1975, they expanded into textiles, and their brand "Vimal" became very popular. In 1977, Reliance offered its shares to the public for the first time (this is called an initial public offering or IPO). Many people wanted to buy shares, showing how popular the company was!
In 1980, Reliance grew its polyester yarn business even more. They built a new plant in Patalganga, Raigad, Maharashtra, with help from a U.S. company called E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
Growing Bigger: 1981 to 2000
In 1985, the company's name changed to "Reliance Industries Ltd." (RIL), which is what it's called today. Between 1985 and 1992, RIL greatly increased how much polyester yarn it could produce.
A large chemical plant, the Hazira petrochemical plant, started working in 1991–92.
In 1993, Reliance raised money from international markets. By 1996, it was the first private company in India to be rated by big international agencies like Standard & Poor's and Moody's.
In 1995/96, Reliance entered the telecom world. They started a joint company with NYNEX from the USA, called Reliance Telecom Private Limited.
Between 1998 and 2000, RIL built the Jamnagar petrochemical complex in Gujarat. This became the largest oil refinery in the world!
New Ventures: 2001 Onwards
In 2001, Reliance Industries Ltd. and Reliance Petroleum Ltd. became India's two biggest companies. Soon after, Reliance Petroleum merged with Reliance Industries.
In 2002, Reliance found a huge amount of natural gas in the Krishna Godavari basin. This was one of the biggest gas discoveries in the world that year!
Reliance continued to grow by buying other companies. In 2002–03, RIL bought a large part of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (IPCL), another big chemical company.
In 2005 and 2006, Reliance changed how its business was organized. It separated its power, financial, and telecom services into new, separate companies.
In 2006, Reliance started its retail business in India with stores like 'Reliance Fresh'. By 2008, they had nearly 600 stores across India.
In 2010, Reliance entered the broadband internet market. They bought Infotel Broadband Services Limited, which had won the right to offer 4G internet services across India.
Also in 2010, Reliance teamed up with BP, a big oil and gas company. BP bought a share in Reliance's oil and gas projects in India. They also formed a joint company to buy and sell gas in India.
In 2017, RIL started another joint company with a Russian firm, Sibur, to build a Butyl rubber plant in Jamnagar.
More recently, in 2024, Reliance Industries announced a partnership with The BharatGPT group. They plan to launch an large language model (LLM) called Hanuman's AI system. This AI will work in 11 Indian languages and help in areas like health, governance, financial services, and education.
In March 2024, Reliance Industries also partnered with Disney to create a new online streaming platform.
Who Owns Reliance?
There are about 6.44 billion shares of Reliance Industries. The Ambani family, who started the company, owns about 50.39% of these shares. The rest are owned by public shareholders, including other companies and international investors.
Life Insurance Corporation of India, a government-owned company, is the largest non-family investor, owning 6.49% of the shares.
You can buy and sell Reliance shares on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the BSE in India. The company's international shares (called Global Depository Receipts or GDRs) are listed on the London Stock Exchange.
What Reliance Does
The main parts of Reliance's business are making petrochemicals, refining oil, and working with oil and gas. But they also have other important divisions like textiles, retail stores, telecommunications, and developing special economic zones.
In 2012–13, most of their money (76%) came from refining oil. Petrochemicals brought in 19%, oil and gas 2%, and other areas 3%.
In 2012, RIL announced plans to invest a lot of money in a new aerospace division. This division will design and make parts for military and civilian aircraft, helicopters, and drones.
As of March 2023, Reliance Industries has 254 smaller companies (subsidiaries) and 15 partner companies.
Reliance's Main Businesses
Jio Platforms
Jio Platforms Limited is a big technology company that belongs mostly to Reliance Industries. It's worth over $100 billion! This company was created in 2019 to bring all of Reliance's digital and telecom businesses together.
Jio Platforms includes Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which provides mobile phone, internet, and business services. It also includes other digital tools and investments in tech companies. In 2020, Facebook invested a lot of money in Jio Platforms, buying a 9.99% share. Other big companies like Silver Lake Partners, Intel, and Google have also invested in Jio Platforms.
In 2022, Mukesh Ambani's son, Akash Mukesh Ambani, became the chairperson of Jio.
Reliance Retail
Reliance Retail is the part of Reliance Industries that handles all its retail stores. It's the largest retailer in India! In March 2013, it had 1466 stores across the country.
Many well-known stores are part of Reliance Retail, such as Reliance Fresh (for groceries), Reliance Footprint (for shoes), Reliance Digital (for electronics), and Reliance Trends (for fashion).
In 2022, Mukesh Ambani's daughter, Isha Ambani Piramal, took over as the chairperson of Reliance Retail. This is part of a plan to pass on leadership in the company.
Network 18
Between 2011 and 2014, Reliance bought a large share in Network18 Group. Through Network18, Reliance owns many news channels, including CNN-News18 and News18 India.
Network 18 is a big media company. It works in television, digital platforms, publishing, mobile apps, and movies. It also has joint ventures with other media companies like Viacom and A+E Networks.
Other Important Businesses
- Reliance Global Corporate Security: This company provides security for Reliance Industries' properties. Its team includes former military and police members.
- Reliance Life Sciences: This part of Reliance works on medical, plant, and industrial biotechnology. They make medicines, do research, and work on things like regenerative medicine and biofuels.
- Embibe: This is an education technology (EdTech) company that Reliance has invested in. It helps students learn.
- Reliance Logistics: This company handles transportation, storage, and delivery services for goods. It helps move products for Reliance and other companies.
- Reliance Solar: This subsidiary focuses on solar energy. It makes and sells solar products like solar lanterns, home lighting systems, and water purification systems, especially for rural areas. Mukesh Ambani's youngest son, Anant Ambani, will lead this new energy business.
- Reliance Eros Productions LLP: A joint company with Eros International that produces films in India.
- Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL): This company provides financial services and makes investments.
- Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL): This subsidiary invests in new technologies like robotics and AI. It also owns a share in The Oberoi Group, a luxury hotel chain.
- Reliance Sibur: A joint company with Sibur that makes synthetic rubber.
- Relicord: A cord blood banking service owned by Reliance Life Sciences, started in 2002.
- Reliance Institute of Life Sciences (RILS): An institution that offers higher education in life sciences.
- LYF: A brand of 4G-enabled mobile phones from Reliance Retail.
Awards and Recognitions
Reliance Industries has received many awards for its work:
- It was named "International Refiner of the Year" in 2017 and 2013.
- The Brand Trust Report ranked Reliance Industries as one of the most trusted brands in India in 2013 and 2014.
- It received the National Golden Peacock Award in 2011 for its efforts in corporate sustainability.
- In 2009, Boston Consulting Group named Reliance Industries as one of the world's top companies for creating value for investors over a decade.
- IndustryWeek magazine chose Reliance as one of the world's 100 best-managed companies in 2000.
- From 1994 to 1997, the company won the National Energy Conservation Award.
See also
- List of companies of India
- Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex
- Reliance Group
- Dhirubhai Ambani
