Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Aims for Fortune 50 Glory with $30 Billion Investment
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday announced plans to invest more than Rs 1.8 lakh crore or $30 billion across its businesses, including telecom and oil and gas, over three years.
A bulk of investments would be allocated to the company's petrochemical business, which generates the largest revenue after refining.
The company will spend Rs 70,000 crore to build the "largest broadband network that the world has ever seen," said Mr Ambani at RIL's 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM). (Read: Mukesh Ambani's big, bold plans for RIL)
India's richest man said the much-awaited fourth-generation (4G) telecommunications services (under Reliance Jio brand) will begin operations in 2015. RIL has spent billions of dollars on a 4G mobile telecom venture, which has yet to be launched. (Read the full story here)
"Reliance Jio will be one of the largest job-creating and wealth-creating business initiatives in India... The network and broadband services will be ubiquitous - initially covering all states, all the 5,000 towns and cities... Eventually, the network will encompass each of our over 600,000 villages," Mr Ambani said.
Reliance Jio, which currently employs over 10,000 employees, aims to capture a big share of India's growing wireless data market by offering low-cost services. Earlier this year, the company added airwaves that would help it offer bread-and-butter voice telephony along with premium high-speed Internet services.
The retail business, which turned profitable (before interest and tax) last fiscal and telecom business, will be the key value creators in coming future, Mr Ambani added.
"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," Mr Ambani said.
Reliance Industries shares closed 2.1 per cent lower at Rs 1,066.75 underperforming the BSE Oil & Gas sub-index, which fell 1.4 per cent. (Track stock)
(With inputs from Reuters)