RIL aims for the stars

RIL aims for the stars

last week, the market capitalisation of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) surpassed ₹15 lakh crore for the first time. its share price is also at a lifetime high, and owner Mukesh Ambani is on the verge of joining the $100 billion club. that would put his individual net worth on par with that of Infosys.

it’s elementary

RIL’s feat was achieved on the back of a 4% bump in its stock last Friday, which carried over with a ~2% jump on Monday. the stock was in demand because Ambani declared the conglomerate would double its production of green hydrogen. 

this came just weeks after India launched its National Hydrogen Mission to combat climate change. it also aims to make India a global hub for green hydrogen, and Ambani aims to bring down the fuel’s cost to $1/kg within a decade to achieve this.

international ambitions

while it transitions to greener businesses, RIL’s core petrochemicals business posted a double-digit growth. in Q1, its oil-to-chemicals business saw a 75% growth in revenue to ₹1.03 lakh crore. for Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, tying up with India’s biggest oil refiner is a no-brainer. 

another of RIL’s subsidiaries, Jio Infocomm, is a dominant player in India’s telecom industry, forming a virtual duopoly along with Airtel. Jio posted a 45% growth in Q1 profit of ₹3,651 crore driven by higher data use and subscriber additions. competitor Airtel posted a net profit of ₹284 crore against a loss last year. 

the platform added 14.4 million subscribers in the June quarter, taking the total to 440.6 million. but, when it comes to making money from its users, Jio average revenue per user didn’t move the needle much. It made ₹138.4 compared to ₹140.3 last year. in contrast, its competitor Airtel’s ARPU was ₹146 in Q1. 

but Jio is no longer content with just being an Indian telecom player. RIL is now planning to acquire T-Mobile Netherlands. an added benefit will be the 5G play where T-Mobile claims that it has covered 90% of the Dutch population. 

retail rides the sentiment

despite local lockdowns, Reliance Retail posted a 19% YoY growth in its Q1 revenue. net profit was up 123% to ₹962 crore, due to a low base last year. integrating its grocery platform JioMart with WhatsApp for entering non-metros could be the big switch. JioMart, which turned one in May 2021, bragged about delivering 6.5 lakh orders in a single day.

after the ₹3,497 crore JustDial acquisition, Reliance is eyeing a super app of its own. 

it seems Ambani has gotten his sights on higher goals and all signs indicate that RIL could soar to further heights.