Reliance Commercial Corporation was set up in 1958 byDhirubhai Ambani as a small venture firm trading commodities, especially spices and polyester yarn.[1] In 1965, the partnership ended and Dhirubhai continued thepolyester business of the firm.[18] In 1966, Reliance Textiles Industries Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated inMaharashtra. It established asynthetic fabrics mill in the same year atNaroda inGujarat.[19] On 8 May 1973, it became Reliance Textiles Industries Limited. In 1975, the company expanded its business into textiles, with "Vimal" becoming its major brand in later years. The company held itsinitial public offering (IPO) in 1977.[20] The issue was over-subscribed by seven times.[21] In 1979, a textiles company Sidhpur Mills was amalgamated with the company.[22] In 1980, the company expanded its polyester yarn business by setting up a Polyester Filament Yarn Plant in Patalganga,Raigad, Maharashtra with financial and technical collaboration withE. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., U.S.[19]
1981–2000
In 1985, the name of the company was changed fromReliance Textiles Industries Ltd. toReliance Industries Ltd.[19] During 1985 to 1992, the company expanded its installed capacity for producingpolyesteryarn by over 145,000 tonnes per annum.[19]
In 1993, Reliance turned to the overseas capital markets for funds through aglobal depository issue of Reliance Petroleum. In 1996, it became the first private sector company in India to be rated by internationalcredit rating agencies.S&P rated Reliance "BB+, stable outlook, constrained by the sovereign ceiling".Moody's rated "Baa3, Investment grade, constrained by the sovereign ceiling".[24]
In 1995/96, the company entered thetelecommunications industry through a joint venture withNYNEX, USA, and promoted Reliance Telecom Private Limited in India.[23]
In 2001, Reliance Industries Ltd. and Reliance Petroleum Ltd. became India's two largest companies in terms of all major financial parameters.[25] In 2001–02, Reliance Petroleum was merged with Reliance Industries.[20]
In 2002, Reliance announced India's biggest gas discovery (at theKrishna Godavari basin) in nearly three decades and one of the largest gas discoveries in the world during 2002. The in-place volume of natural gas was more than 7 trillion cubic feet, equivalent to about 120 crore (1.2 billion) barrels of crude oil. This was the first-ever discovery by an Indian private sector company.[20][non-primary source needed][26]
In 2002–03, RIL purchased a majority stake in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (IPCL), India's second largest petrochemicals company, from the government of India,[27] RIL took over IPCL's Vadodara Plants and renamed it as Vadodara Manufacturing Division (VMD).[28][29] IPCL's Nagothane andDahej manufacturing complexes came under RIL when IPCL was merged with RIL in 2008.[30][31]
In 2005 and 2006, the company reorganised its business by demerging its investments in power generation and distribution, financial services and telecommunication services into four separate entities.[32][non-primary source needed]
In 2006, Reliance entered the organised retail market in India[33] with the launch of its retail store format under the brand name of 'Reliance Fresh'.[34][35] By the end of 2008, Reliance Retail had close to 600 stores across 57 cities in India.[20][non-primary source needed][36]
In November 2009, Reliance Industries issued 1:1 bonus shares to its shareholders.[37][38]
In 2010, Reliance entered the broadband services market with acquisition of Infotel Broadband Services Limited, which was the only successful bidder for pan-India fourth-generation (4G) spectrum auction held by the government of India.[39][40]In the same year, Reliance andBP announced a partnership in the oil and gas business. BP took a 30 per cent stake in 23 oil and gas production sharing contracts that Reliance operates in India, including the KG-D6 block for $7.2 billion.[41] Reliance also formed a 50:50 joint venture with BP for sourcing and marketing of gas in India.[42]
In February 2024, Reliance andThe Walt Disney Company announced a deal to merge their streaming and television assets.[50][51] The deal was closed in November 2024, with theDisney Star joint venture having a reported value of $8.5 billion.[52]
In October 2024, Reliance entered into an agreement withNvidia toprocureBlackwell chips for its planned data centre in Jamnagar.[53]
On 3 June 2025, it was reported that Reliance Industries-owned Jai Ammunition Limited was part of anIndian Army project to supply indigenously designed, developed and produced artillery shells and reduce foreign dependence. As of date, four ammunition variants – including high explosive, smoke anddual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) rounds – have been tested for the past two years. The final development-cum-user trials are planned in November 2025, following which mass order could be placed. The shells have been developed under the Development Cum Production Partner (DCPP) programme by theDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with two industry partners – Jai Ammunition andYantra India.[54]
Shareholding
The number of shares of RIL are approx. 644.51 crore (6.44 billion).[55] The promoter group, the Ambani family, holds 50.39% of the total shares whereas the remaining 49.61% shares are held by public shareholders, including FII and corporate bodies.[55]Life Insurance Corporation of India, public sector company, is the largest non-promoter investor in the company, with 6.49% shareholding.[56]
In January 2012, the company announced a buyback program to buy a maximum of 12 crore (120 million) shares for₹10,400 crore (US$1.95 billion). By the end of January 2013, the company had bought back 4.62 crore (46.2 million) shares for₹3,366 crore (US$574.42 million).[57]
Its debt securities are listed at the Wholesale Debt Market (WDM) Segment of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE).[60][non-primary source needed]
It has received domestic credit ratings of AAA from CRISIL (S&P subsidiary) and Fitch. Moody's and S&P have provided investment grade ratings for international debt of the company, as Baa2 positive outlook (local currency issuer rating) and BBB+ outlook respectively.[61][non-primary source needed][62][63]
The company'spetrochemical,refining, and oil and gas-related operations form the core of its business; other divisions of the company include cloth, retail, telecommunications, andspecial economic zone (SEZ) development.
In July 2012, RIL informed that it was going to invest US$1 billion over the next few years in its new aerospace division which will design, develop and manufacture equipment and components, includingaircraft,engine,radars,avionics and accessories for military and civilian aircraft,helicopters, unmanned airborne vehicles, andaerostats.[66]
In July 2024, Reliance Industries was granted the approval byUnited States to resume importing oil fromVenezuela.[67]
The company had more than 200 subsidiary companies and more than 15 associate companies as of 2024.[68][69] In fiscal year 2024, the company generated 65% of its sales in India and 35% outside India.[65]
Jio Platforms Limited, essentially a technology company, is a majority-owned subsidiary of RIL. It has a valuation of more thanUS$100billion on expert view as of October 2022. It is the result of a corporate restructuring announced in October 2019, resulting in all the digital initiatives and the telecommunication assets being housed under this new subsidiary.[79] This new subsidiary holds all the digital business assets includingReliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which in turn holds the Jio connectivity business - mobile, broadband and enterprise, and also the other digital assets (Jio Apps, Tech backbone and Investments in other tech entities like Haptic,Hathway andDen Networks among others).[80] In April 2020, RIL announced a strategic investment of₹43,574 crore (US$5.88 billion) by Facebook into Jio Platforms. This investment translated into a 9.99% equity stake, on a fully diluted basis.[81][non-primary source needed] Further in May 2020, RIL sold roughly 1.15% stake in Jio Platforms for₹5,656 crore (US$763.3 million) to the American private equity investor,Silver Lake Partners.[82]Intel became the 12th company to invest in Reliance Jio platforms after it invested ₹1,894.50 crore ($250 million), the total investments in Jio platforms is ₹117,588.45 crore so far.[83] On 16 July 2020,Google announced that it will acquire a 7.7% stake in Jio Platforms for₹33,737 crore (US$5.02 billion).[84] Mukesh Ambani has named his son, Akash Mukesh Ambani as the chairperson of Jio in 2022.[85]
Reliance Retail is the retail business wing of the Reliance Industries. In March 2013, it had 1466 stores in India.[86][non-primary source needed] It is the largest retailer in India.[87] Many brands likeReliance Fresh,Reliance Footprint, Reliance Time Out,Reliance Digital, Reliance Wellness, Reliance Trends, Reliance Autozone, Reliance Super, Reliance Mart, Reliance iStore, Reliance Home Kitchens, Reliance Market (Cash n Carry) and Reliance Jewel come under the Reliance Retail brand. Its annual revenue for the financial year 2012–13 was₹108 billion (US$1.3 billion) with an EBITDA of₹780 million (US$9.2 million). Its market value is more than $60 billion.[88][non-primary source needed][89] Mukesh Ambani stepped down from the position of chairperson of Reliance Retail and handed over the job to his daughter Isha Ambani Piramal.[90] Ambani announced it during the 45th Reliance AGM, in 2022. As per reports, this act is a part of Ambani's leadership transition.[91]
Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited (RIIL) is an associate company of RIL. It was incorporated in September 1988 as Chembur Patalganga Pipelines Limited, with the main objective being to build and operate cross-country pipelines for transporting petroleum products. The company's name was subsequently changed to CPPL Limited in September 1992, and thereafter to its present name, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited, in March 1994.[92] RIIL is mainly engaged in the business of setting up and operating industrial infrastructure. The company is also engaged in related activities involving leasing and providing services connected with computer software and data processing.[93][non-primary source needed]
Between 2011 and 2014, Reliance acquired majority stake inNetwork18 Group. Through Network18, Reliance owns multiple news channels includingCNN-News18 andNews18 India.[94]
Network 18 is a mass media company. It has interests in television, digital platforms, publication, mobile apps and films. It also operates two joint ventures, namelyViacom18 andHistory TV18 withViacom andA+E Networks respectively. It has also acquired a partial part ofETV Network and since renamed its channels under theColors TV brand.[citation needed]
Other
Reliance Global Corporate Security is a private security company founded in 17 August 1998. It provides enterprise wide security to assets of Reliance Industries. It is composed of former member of the military and paramilitary forces, law enforcement agencies, intelligence services as well as technical experts from other industries.[95][96]
Reliance Life Sciences works around medical, plant and industrialbiotechnology opportunities. It specialises in manufacturing, branding, and marketing Reliance Industries' products in bio-pharmaceuticals,pharmaceuticals, clinical research services,regenerative medicine,molecular medicine, novel therapeutics,biofuels, plant biotechnology, andindustrial biotechnology sectors of the medical business industry.[97]
Embibe a Bengaluru-based EdTech start-up raised funding of ₹89.91 crores from RIL in February 2020. Over three years, Reliance Industries had invested around $180 million in the start-up. A part of it was towards acquiring a stake of 72.69% from Embibe's existing investors. In December 2019, Embibe, under the proprietary name (Individual Learning Private Limited), announced that it picked up equity shares in Bengaluru-based K12 startup Funtoot (eDreams Edusoft). The deal was capped at ₹71.64 crores in cash, which holds 90.5% of the equity share capital of Funtoot. In February 2020, it acquired the rival platform OnlineTyari.[98][99]
Reliance Logistics is a single-window[clarification needed] company selling transportation, distribution, warehousing, logistics, and supply chain-related products.[100][101][non-primary source needed][102] Reliance Logistics is an asset based company with its own fleet and infrastructure.[103] It provides logistics services to Reliance group companies and outsiders.[104]
Reliance Solar, the solar energy subsidiary of Reliance, was established to produce and retail solar energy systems primarily to remote and rural areas. It offers a range of products based on solar energy: solar lanterns, home lighting systems, street lighting systems,water purification systems, refrigeration systems and solar air conditioners.[105][non-primary source needed] In 2022 RIL AGM, Mukesh Ambani specified that his youngest son Anant Ambani will take over the new energy business.[106]
Reliance Eros Productions LLP, joint venture withEros International to produce film content in India.[107]
Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL), a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL which provides financial services. The Company owns securities of companies other than banks, as well as offers investment services.[108] RIIHL bought majority stakes in two companies - logistics firm Grab A Grub Services Private Limited and software company C-Square Info Solutions - for over ₹146 crores in March 2019. RIIHL also sponsored the TowerInvestment trust (InvITs) for the acquisition of 49% equity in RJio's tower assets for ₹25,215 crores by the Canadian asset management firmBrookfield Infrastructure Partners.[109] On 22 April 2021, RIIHL acquired the entire issued share capital of Stoke Park Ltd, company that owns and manages sporting and leisure facilities inStoke Poges, Buckinghamshire for £57 million.[110]
Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL), a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL bought a 51.78% stake in robotics and AI firm Asteria Aerospace for ₹23.12 crore and an 85% stake in NowFloats Technologies for ₹141.63 crores in Dec 2019.[111] It also holds 18.83% in EIH Limited, the flagship company ofThe Oberoi Group, one of the largest luxury hotel chains in India. In November 2019, RSBVL invested an undisclosed amount in SkyTran Inc. for 12.7%, increased it further to 26.3% by April 2020. In February 2021, RIL became the majority stakeholder with 54.46% with an additional investment of $26.76 million.[112]
Reliance Sibur is a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Silbur in the business of making synthetic rubber.[113][non-primary source needed]
Relicord is acord blood banking service owned by Reliance Life Sciences. It was established in 2002.[114][non-primary source needed] It has been inspected and accredited byAABB,[115] and also has been accorded a licence by Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Government of India.
Reliance Clinical Research Services (RCRS), acontract research organisation (CRO) and wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Life Sciences, specialises in the clinical research services industry. Its clients are primarily pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies.[118][non-primary source needed]
LYF, a 4G-enabled VoLTE device brand from Reliance Retail.[119]
Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd. is a 100% subsidiary that owns theMumbai Indiansmen's andwomen's professionalT20 franchisecricket teams, playing in theIPL andWPL respectively. Besides, they also own various teams across different leagues globally such as theMI Cape Town,MI Emirates,MI New York teams in theSA20,ILT20 and theMLC leagues respectively.
Former holdings
In March 2017, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) completed the sale process of its 76% equity stake inMauritius-based oil retailer Gulf Africa Petroleum Corp (GAPCO) to Total Marketing & Services, a subsidiary of the French oil and gas firmTotal SE.[120]
TheEast West Pipeline has been acquired by India Infrastructure Trust, which is owned by Brookfield Asset Management, for a consideration of₹13,000crore.[121]
In May 2014,ONGC complained to theDelhi High Court accusing RIL ofpilferage of 18 billion cubic metres of gas from its gas-producing block in theKrishna Godavari basin.[124] Subsequently, the two companies agreed to form an independent expert panel to probe any pilferage.[125]
Cronyism
Seminar magazine (2003) detailed Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani's proximity to politicians, his enmity withBombay Dyeing'sNusli Wadia, the exposes by theIndian Express and Arun Shourie about illegal imports by the company and overseas share transactions by shell companies, and the botched attempt to acquireLarsen & Toubro.[126]
As early as 1996,Outlook magazine addressed other controversies related to fake and switched shares; insider trading; and a nexus with the state-ownedUnit Trust of India. Five main allegations concerning Reliance, which have plunged the Indian capital markets into a period of uncertainty unsurpassed since the days of the securities scam were:
Reliance issued fake shares.
It switched shares sent for transfer by buyers to make illegal profits.
It indulged in insider trading in shares.
It established a nexus with the Unit Trust of India to raise huge sums of money to the detriment of UTI subscribers.
It attempted to monopolize the private telecom services market through front companies.[12]
2005 Criminal investigation
TheCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet in a Mumbai court against Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and four retired employees ofNational Insurance Company Limited (NICL), including a former CMD, under provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act forcriminal conspiracy and other charges. Acting on a reference from CVC in March 2005, the CBI started probing the conspiracy that led to the filing of the charge sheet on 9 December 2011. The 2005 complaint had alleged irregularities in the issuance of insurance policies — for coverage of default payments — by NICL to RIL. The charge sheet also mentioned criminal offenses with dishonest intention and causing wrongful loss totaling ₹147.41 crores to NICL and wrongful gain to the private telecom provider.[14]
Two retired senior officials of National Insurance Company Limited and 11 others were awarded varying jail terms by a Delhi court in Jan 2014.[127]
RIL plane grounded
A business jet owned by Reliance Industries (RIL) was grounded by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 22 March 2014 during a surprise inspection, for carrying expired safety equipment on board; its pilot was also suspended for flying without a license.[128]
Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin gas controversy
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was supposed to relinquish 25% of the total area outside the discoveries in 2004 and 2005, as per the Production Sharing Contract (PSC). However, the entire block was declared as a discovery area and RIL was allowed to retain it. In 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) criticized the Oil Ministry for this decision. The CAG also faulted RIL for limiting the competition in contracts, stating that RIL awarded a $1.1 billion contract to Aker on a single-bid basis.[15][129]
Petition against Reliance Jio
A PIL filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, through Prashant Bhushan, challenged the grant of a pan-India license to RJIL by the Government of India. The PIL alleged that RJIL was allowed to provide voice telephony along with its 4G data service, by paying an additional fee of just INR 16,580 million (US$280 million) which was arbitrary and unreasonable and contributed to a loss of INR 228,420 million (US$3.8 billion) to the exchequer.[130][131]
The CAG in its draft report alleged rigging of the auction mechanism, whereby an unknown ISP, Infotech Broadband Services Pvt Ltd, acquired the spectrum by bidding 5000 times its net worth, after which the company was sold to Reliance Industries.[132]
Future Retail deal and possession
In February 2022, Reliance terminated the leases of hundreds of Future Retail locations, the next largest retail chain in India, and took possession of those brick-and-mortar shops. Future Retail had a deal to sell its assets to Reliance, but that deal was contested byAmazon.com, which in 2019 acquired a stake in a subunit of Future Retail along with certain rights with respect to the transfer of the retailer's assets. Reliance's possessions came after rounds of legal wrangling, including a 2020 arbitration in Singapore and an antitrust review by theCompetition Commission of India.[133][134][135][136]
Stock manipulation and penalty
Formanipulating shares ofReliance Petroleum Limited (RPL), Reliance Industries was fined Rs. 950 crore (about 447 crore in retracted gains and 500 crore in interest) in 2007.[16] In April 2006, RPL went public as a Reliance subsidiary at a price of Rs. 60 per share. The market crashed by 30% after it floated at roughly Rs. 100, and RPL was back at 60. In accordance withSecurities and Exchange Board of India directive, RIL carried out an organised operation with the help of its agents in order to obtain unauthorised profits from the trading of its formerly listed unit, RPL, which was combined with the former in 2009.[137][138][139][140][141]
Reliance's business ties with Russia
Reliance Industries has faced criticism for maintaining business relations with Russia despite international sanctions imposed followingRussia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The company has engaged in energy deals with Russian oil giantRosneft, raising concerns about its alignment with global efforts to reduce economic ties with Russia. Reliance has been listed onLeave Russia, a platform tracking companies still active in the Russian market, further intensifying scrutiny over its role in facilitatingRussian energy exports.[142][143] In December 2024, Reliance Industries entered into a contract withRosneft to procure 500,000 barrels of oil per day for 10 years. This corresponds to around US$13 billion per year.[144]
Reliance demerger and family feud
The Ambani family holds around 45% of the shares in RIL.[145] Since its inception, the company was managed by its founder and chairmanDhirubhai Ambani. After suffering a stroke in 1986, he handed over the daily operations of the company to his sonsMukesh Ambani andAnil Ambani. After the death of Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002, the management of the company was taken up by both the brothers. In November 2004, Mukesh Ambani, in an interview, admitted to having differences with his brother Anil over 'ownership issues'.[146] He also said that the differences "are in the private domain". The share prices[147] of RIL were impacted by some margin when this news broke out. In 2005, after a bitter public feud between the brothers over the control of the Reliance empire, mother Kokilaben intervened to broker a deal splitting the RIL group business into two parts.[148] In October 2005, the split of Reliance Group was formalised. Mukesh Ambani got Reliance Industries and IPCL. Younger brother Anil Ambani received telecom, power, entertainment, and financial services business of the group. TheAnil Dhirubhai Ambani Group includes Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Capital, Reliance Natural Resources and Reliance Power.[149][150]
The division of Reliance group business between the two brothers also resulted in de-merger of 4 businesses from RIL.[151][152] These businesses immediately became part of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The existing shareholders in RIL, both the promoter group and non-promoters, received shares in the de-merged companies.[32]
Awards and recognition
International Refiner of the year in 2017 at Global Refining and Petrochemicals Congress 2017[153]
International Refiner of the Year in 2013 at the HART Energy's 27th World Refining & Fuel Conference. This is the second time that RIL has received this Award for itsJamnagar Refinery, the first being in 2005.[154]
The Brand Trust Report ranked Reliance Industries as the 7th most trusted brand in India in 2013 and 9th in 2014.[155][156]
RIL was ranked at 25th position across the world, on the basis of sales, in the ICIS Top 100 Chemicals Companies list in 2012.[158]
RIL was awarded the National Golden Peacock Award 2011 for its contribution in the field of corporate sustainability.[159]
In 2009,Boston Consulting Group (BCG) named Reliance Industries as the world's fifth biggest 'sustainable value creator' in a list of 25 top companies globally in terms of investor returns over a decade.[160]
The company was selected as one of the world's 100 best managed companies for the year 2000 byIndustryWeek magazine.[19][161]
From 1994 to 1997, the company won National Energy Conservation Award in the petrochemical sector.[19]
^Nina Muncherji, C. Gopalakrishnan, Upider Dhar (2009).Partners In Success: Strategic Hr And Entrepreneurship. Excel Books India. p. 6.ISBN9788174467010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Srinivas, A. (2005).Storms in the Sea Wind: Ambani vs Ambani. Roli Books.ISBN978-9-3519-4079-1.
Khatri, N. and Ojha, A. (2017).Crony Capitalism in India: Establishing Robust Counteractive Institutional Frameworks.Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN978-1-1375-8287-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
₹9.98lakhcrore (US$120 billion) (2025)
