RIL to begin 4G service in 2015; plans $30 bn investment

Mumbai, June 18 :

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) plans to invest Rs.180,000 crore ($30 billion) in its various businesses including oil and gas, retail and telecom in the next three years, company’s chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said Wednesday.

The company through its telecom arm Reliance Jio plans to roll out fourth-generation (4G) telecommunications services next year.

Addressing shareholders at the RIL’s 40th Annual General Meeting, Ambani said the company has outlined expansion strategy across the businesses and aims to become a Fortune 50 firm in the next 2-3 years. RIL is currently ranked 135th on the Fortune 500 list of global companies.

This was the 37th AGM of Reliance since it became a listed company.

“In the past 37 years, we invested Rs.240,000 crore and in the current three years’ investment cycle, we will be investing over Rs.180,000 crore,” Ambani said.

“We are currently at the mid-point of the largest investment programme in Reliance’s history,” he said.

Ambani said the next three years would be transformational in RIL’s history.

“The next two years, 2014-15 and 2015-16, will see us focused on executing and progressively bringing these projects on-stream in petrochemicals, refining, retail and Jio,” he said.

“The year 2016-17 will be the first full year in which the complete benefits of all these investments will be available to our shareholders, customers and society,” he added.

Ambani said 4G broadband business under Reliance Jio will be the “most transformational initiatives of Reliance” over the next few years.

He said the company plans to invest Rs.70,000 crore ($11.7 billion) in its telecom business.

Ambani said limited field trials with initial set of services are already underway and “the year 2015 will see the phased launch of Reliance Jio across India”.

“Expanded field trials will commence in August this year across multiple cities. These trials would continue through the end of 2014 and early part of 2015,” he said. “The objective is to ensure that everything that we offer is future proof and world class.”

On retail business, Ambani said: “We are confident of doubling retail business every 3-4 years. Retail will emerge as a major growth engine for consumer business.

“Reliance Retail is India’s largest retailer by revenues. We have 1,691 Reliance Retail stores across 146 cities in India,” he said.

(IANS)