How Mukesh Ambani-led world's biggest refinery is bracing for an EV future

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd plans to produce only jet fuel and petrochemicals at its mega Jamnagar refinery complex as it implements an oil-to-chemical strategy that will eliminate most fuels it produces in favour of high value products.

The company is preparing its Jamnagar complex, the world's largest refinery at a single location, to be future ready as fuel demand undergoes change with advent of electric vehicles.

"Jamnagar shall be the refinery icon of the world with best-in-class performance," the company said in its latest annual report outlining its vision.

The firm's mission is to "ensure the Jamnagar refinery is future-ready with a strategic transformation to optimal oil-to-chemicals."

Its refineries currently convert crude oil, sourced from around the globe, into petrol, diesel, LPG, aviation turbine fuel (ATF), LPG, naphta and other value added fuels. Some of these products are used to produce petrochemicals used for making plastics and other products.

Now, it is implementing a strategy that will convert the crude oil only into petrochemicals and ATF used in aeroplanes.

"Reliance has developed a future-ready Oil-to-Chemical strategic vision to, ?progressively, transform the Jamnagar ?refinery from a leading producer of fuels to chemicals," it said in the annual report.

?The fundamentals of the Jamnagar oil-to-chemical strategy are to employ advanced ?molecule management to upgrade the refinery intermediate streams by value.

"The oil-to-chemical programme is a roadmap implemented over a long time horizon, based on market outlook and price triggers for refinery fuel products. The ultimate goal is to achieve greater than 70 per cent conversion of crude refined in Jamnagar, to competitive chemical building blocks of ? olefins and aromatics.

"The Jamnagar refinery product slate, at the culmination of oil-to-chemical transition, shall be only jet fuels and petrochemicals," it said.

India already has an oil refining capacity that is in excess of fuel demand. While the fuel demand is tapering, PSUs have planned massive refinery expansion plans, which some analysts have questioned in view of the massive push by the government towards electric vehicles and moving away from polluting hydrocarbon-based liquid fuels.

Reliance said the objectives of this plan was to preserve as well as upgrade existing refinery margins, while maximising asset utilisation for a sustainable competitive cost of chemicals.

It has developed a disruptive technology innovation, a Multizone Catalytic Cracking (MCC) process, which converts a wide range of feedstock to high value propylene and ethylene in a single riser.

"All refined products priced below crude shall be eliminated for chemicals at initial stage. Final fuel de-risking shall target elimination of gasoline, alkylate and diesel, synchronised to the global evolution of E-mobility and transport fuel demand decline," it said.

With expectations of global petrochemicals demand growing at a faster rate as ?compared to transportation fuels in longer ?term, some companies are investing to integrate refinery to petchem to maximise yields of petrochemicals from every barrel of oil processed.

This can possibly lead to significant cost savings through economies of scale and improve competitiveness of companies undertaking such projects.

New complexes in Asia and the Middle East have announced projects with 25-40 per cent? crude to chemical conversion.

As part of its oil-to-chemical strategy, the firm has already implement or is in the process of implementing multi-billion dollar projects.

It has built the world's first ever Refinery Off-Gas Cracker (ROGC) complex of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and is importing ethane from the US to produce petrochemicals.

It has also started up all units of the Petcoke Gasification project that will transform Jamnagar complex into a unique 'bottom-less refinery' by converting refinery residue into synthetic gas, the company said.

"Complexity index (CI) designates the capabilities of a refinery to upgrade lowest quality crude to the highest quality refinery products, including fuels and petrochemicals.

"Complexity index of Jamnagar supersite, as per KBC, a global refinery consultant, has increased from earlier 12.7 to 21.1 or a 66.1% boost with the start-up of Jamnagar expansion projects, including ROGC and downstream units, Paraxylene complex and Petcoke Gasification complex," it said.

RIL likely to report slowest profit growth in 15 quarters, say analysts

The operating profit of Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Industries' (RIL) is expected to take a hit in the June quarter. Analysts estimate a decline in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). The company is also expected to see its slowest profit growth in the last 15 quarters. RIL will report its June 2019 ended quarter results on Friday.
In a Bloomberg poll, 10 analysts estimated consolidated net profit at Rs 9,697 crore and a revenue of Rs 1.46 trillion. Consolidated profit for RIL in the April-June 2018 quarter stood at Rs 9,459 crore. “We forecast consolidated EBITDA of Rs 20,200 crore in the June quarter, down 3 per cent quarter-on-quarter and profit after tax at Rs 9,500 crore down 9 per cent sequentially,” said analysts at JP Morgan in a report on the company. The analysts added the company is expected to see its slowest profit growth in 15 quarters, as weakness in petrochemical takes a toll and unlikely to recover in the near term. Analysts with Goldman Sachs expect consolidated Ebitda for the company to be lower by 3 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

In the post management commentary, the street will look for updates on the fibre to home business, and any increase in network and operating expenses post the de-merger of fibre and tower assets into an InvIT structure. In addition, investors will also look out for guidance on monetization of telecom assets, launch of e-commerce platform and further capital expenditure plans.
Segment-wise RIL is expected to report weak margins for its core business-petchem and refining, while its consumer segment is expected to partially offset the hit. For the refining business, analysts estimate gross refining margins (GRM) in the range of $8 per barrel to $ 8.4 per barrel. In the March 2019 quarter, RIL’s GRM stood at $8.2 per barrel, which was the lowest since October –December 2014 quarter where it was $7.3 per barrel.
RIL’s petchem earnings are expected to take a further hit in the June quarter, after a flat performance in the March quarter. “We expect petchem EBITDA to be down 9 per cent (QOQ) this quarter as sequential core margins have been down for most chemical products due to trade war related concerns,” said analysts with Goldman Sachs in a July 15 report.
Earnings from RIL’s consumer business-telecom and retail could help its consolidated performance. “On a consolidated basis, part of the weakness should have been offset by the increasing earnings contribution from consumer businesses as we expect RIL to report strong key performance indicators (KPI)s for both its Telecom and Retail businesses,” analysts with HSBC said in a report. Goldman Sachs expects retail business Ebitda to grow 41 per cent year-on-year. However, earning margins for the telecom business are also expected to moderate in the June quarter.
“Operational expenditure is likely to increase, as network costs flow through from the infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) structure and hence, we expect Ebitda margin to come down to 33.6 per cent (down 536 basis points QoQ) and Ebitda maybe lower on a QoQ basis,” wrote Parag Gupta, research Analyst, Morgan Stanley. The telecom business’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to remain flat and is also expected to fall behind Airtel as it has scaled up rapidly across rural India without any change or increase in tariff plans.

From 15,000 to 5 million: How RIL is planning to digitise kirana stores

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries' entry into online retailing will help expand the current 15,000 digitised retail stores to over 5 million by 2023, a study of Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.
As much as 90 per cent of India's $700 billion retail market is unorganised, made up mostly of neighbourhood kirana stores selling groceries and other sundries.
These kirana stores are keen to upgrade their tech and this is driving a wave of modernization, the study said.

"This is on the back of growing competition from modern trade and e-commerce," it said. "GST implementation has also acted as a catalyst, creating further modernization pressure as GST compliant bills have to be generated."
Reliance, with a deep footprint in over 10,000 Reliance Retail outlets pan-India, is working to create the world's largest online-to-offline e-commerce platform in the country.
Reliance is looking at installing its Jio MPoS (mobile point-of-sale) device at kirana stores to connect neighbourhood suppliers to its high-speed 4G network that can be used by its customers to order supplies.
It will take on SnapBizz, Nukkad Shops and GoFrugal in this fragmented MPoS space.
While Jio MPoS is available at a one-time investment of Rs 3,000, SnapBiz offers the same machine at a one-time cost of Rs 50,000, the report said.
One-time charge on Nukkad Shops is Rs 30,000 to Rs 55,000 while GoFrugal offers POS software at a one-time investment of Rs 15,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
Jio MPoS has no merchant discount rate (MDR) on any charge and offers a loyalty programme, it said, adding its monetisation strategy include merchandise delivery, advertising and supply-side aggregation.
"We believe, with RIL's entry, we could see an increase in merchant adaptability, as the price points will likely come down (RIL's current one time deposit is Rs 3,000) and reach should expand.
"Consolidation is also a possibility; as a big player, RIL is entering an otherwise scattered market. Overall, we expect RIL to help expand the current 15,000 digitised store base to 5 million-plus stores by 2023," it said.
The brokerage said it met with SnapBizz management at their office in Bengaluru. It has 4,500-plus devices installed over seven cities in India or over 30 per cent of the digitised store base.
"The Merchant PoS by SnapBizz is a point of sale platform where merchants can keep a digital record of their inventory, generate GST compliant bills and keep a track of consumer's buying patterns, in addition to making payments," the report said.
For a one-time payment of Rs 50,000, the merchant gets a PoS device with Snapbizz software, a screen space to display ads and a personal app to interact with users.
SnapBizz is working with Israeli start-up Stamp.ee to design targeted couponing/promotions for customers.
SnapBizz has a contractual agreement with retailers to share aggregate level data with third parties; however personal consumer data is not shared, it said.
The brokerage said it visited 15 stores in Mumbai and Navi-Mumbai to get feedback on general MPoS.
"Most retailers we visited were happy with the merchant PoS and believe the return on investment is good," the report said. "Kirana stores liked the ease of billing/generating GST complaint bills the best. The PoS system provides an option of adding in-built discounts and also push offers to the entire customer database via SMS."

Majority of shops visited are not synching inventory in PoS and mainly are using it as a billing device.
Kiranas either found it difficult to enter new inventory items or were reluctant to enter with a fear of sharing data to POS firms.

Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal consider competing for stake in Zee: Report

Billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal are considering competing bids for a stake in Zee, the troubled television network, people with knowledge of the matter said, as their telecom carriers race for content in the world’s second-biggest mobile market.
Mittal’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. has started due diligence of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. and is expected to make a formal proposal soon, one of the people said, asking not to be identified citing confidentiality. Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. is also considering a bid, the people said. Deliberations are preliminary and may not lead to a transaction, they said.

A representative for Zee said the company doesn’t comment on speculation though it is in “steady dialogue” with potential partners. Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment.
A successful deal would help the winning bidder add a slew of video services in the scramble for user revenue as the government prepares to auction 5G airwaves this year. Some of the world’s largest telecommunications companies including AT&T Inc., Vodafone Group Plc and KDDI Corp. have been buying film and television production and cable TV assets to bolster earnings as subscribers level off.
Bidding for such assets has accelerated as entertainment providers themselves gather content to offer programming via the Internet and compete with upstarts like Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime service.
Zee, the heavily-indebted broadcaster controlled by former rice trader-turned-media mogul Subhash Chandra, is seeking a strategic investor to help fend off competition from Netflix, Amazon and hundreds of local TV channels vying to tap India’s booming demand for content.
Zee, which boasts 1.3 billion viewers across 173 countries through its 78 channels and 4,800 movie titles, has previously attracted interest from Sony Corp. and Comcast Corp. but hasn’t found a buyer yet. The television network has offered to sell half of the controlling family’s shares, of which 59 percent is pledged as collateral to lenders.
Jio stormed the market in 2016 with free calls and cheap data and forced some rivals to retreat or merge. Bharti, once No. 1, has been relegated to second position after Vodafone’s local unit combined with billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Idea Cellular.
War chest
While Bharti has been adding some digital services to its portfolio, such as apps for e-books and music, its scale hasn’t matched Jio, which already offers a bouquet of services including Saavn, a music app, television, news and movies.
In February, Bharti revealed plans to raise as much as 320 billion rupees ($4.6 billion) from a rights issue and bond sales to build a war chest as competition with Jio intensifies. Last year, Bharti entered into a content deal with Zee for exclusive videos on Airtel applications.
In a January interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos to Bloomberg Quint, Mittal said Airtel will have to provide subscribers content from the likes of Zee, Netflix and Amazon to get them to use more data and boost revenue.
(With assistance from Dave McCombs.)

How the fortunes of Ambani brothers have grown about $40 billion apart

Over the past year, the fortunes of the two brothers at the helm of India’s wealthiest dynasty have grown apart -- to about $40 billion apart.
Elder sibling Mukesh Ambani, 61, toppled China’s Jack Ma as Asia’s richest man, after driving a telecommunications revolution in India that propelled his petrochemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. into the $100 billion club. His personal fortune had swollen to more than $40 billion as of Friday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, billions ahead of Ma and at similar levels to Microsoft Corp.’s former chief, Steve Ballmer.
Meanwhile, Anil Ambani, two years his junior, has had a difficult year, with some of his businesses suffering legal and liquidity challenges that roiled stocks, cutting his personal fortune by almost half to $1.5 billion, according to the index.
Neither the brothers nor their groups responded to questions for this story regarding their wealth or business operations.
ALSO READ: Q2 result preview: Petchem likely to boost Mukesh Ambani's RIL profit
The tale of the two brothers’ diverging fortunes began 16 years ago, when their rags-to-riches father Dhirubhai Ambani, whose life inspired a Bollywood film, died of a stroke without leaving a will. The industrialist, who started out as a gas-station attendant in Yemen, had built a vast business empire, financing massive factories by selling so many shares to small investors that stockholder meetings had to be held in a football stadium.
How the fortunes of Ambani brothers have grown about $40 billion apart A feud between his two sons following their father’s death dogged the group until their mother, Kokilaben, stepped in during 2005 and brokered a truce. Mukesh got control of the flagship oil refining and petrochemicals, while Anil got the newer businesses such as power generation and financial services. He also took over the telecoms unit, which under Mukesh had expanded aggressively by bundling phones with mobile connections at throwaway prices.
Telecoms Lure
At the time, the wireless division seemed to give Anil some of the more promising opportunities. Crude oil prices had climbed to a then-record price of more than $60 a barrel in 2005, sparking concern that refiners’ margins may get eroded. India’s burgeoning mobile-phone market was hailed as the future.
ALSO READ: Forbes India rich list 2018: Mukesh Ambani at the top again; adds $9.3 bn
A non-compete clause between the brothers kept Mukesh out of that arena until the agreement was scrapped in 2010. Mukesh quickly returned, pumping in more than 2.5 trillion rupees ($34 billion) over the next seven years to build a speedier 4G wireless network for his Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
“It was a very, very big bet,” said James Crabtree, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore and author of the book “The Billionaire Raj,” which examined wealth inequality in India. Jio also gave Mukesh the chance to forge his own legacy beyond the shadow of the businesses he had inherited, he said. “Jio in that sense was an all-in bet.”
It took a long time to pay off. Reliance’s shares lagged S&P BSE Sensex index for most of the past decade as investors watched Mukesh pour money into his telecom network with little sign of a return at first.
Price War
When it came in 2016, the impact was dramatic. By July this year, less than two years after starting the service, Jio had signed up 227 million users and was making a profit. Rivals were bleeding as Mukesh’s upstart embarked on a devastating price war, offering monthly plans for as little as $2.
ALSO READ: Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio continues eating into incumbent subscriber pie
“Reliance’s strategy to diversify beyond the energy sector was the biggest game changer,” said Sanjiv Bhasin, executive vice president at India Infoline Ltd. “Mukesh Ambani had the 10-year vision to foresee that data will be the next gold and he invested heavily.”
What financed that investment was Dhirubhai’s old oil and petrochemicals business, which, expanded by Mukesh, still accounts for 90 per cent of Reliance’s profit. Cash flow from the business, together with a blue-chip rating gave Reliance Industries access to a large pool of cheap capital. “Mukesh Ambani has very adroitly used this competitive advantage,” said Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment Managers.
Meanwhile, Anil has been selling assets to quell investor concerns around the indebtedness of some of his companies that contributed to declines in his shares.
Like his brother, Anil invested billions to expand his portfolio, but the younger brother didn’t have a cash cow like the oil refinery to finance growth. Instead, like other businesses in India and elsewhere, many of his companies increased debt.
ALSO READ: Anil Ambani's RCom to develop 133-acre infotech park in Navi Mumbai
The borrowing spree by local companies caused India’s banks to amass one of the world’s worst bad-loan ratios and when the central bank started cracking down on the resulting $210 billion mountain of stressed debt, highly leveraged companies came under pressure.
“The only options any indebted company has is to sell assets, seek refinancing or get new investors,” said Crabtree in Singapore.
Of Anil’s businesses, shares of Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. saw the worst decline this year, losing 76 per cent. Bought in 2015 as part of his bet on defence as the next engine of growth, the warship and submarine maker has proven hard to turn around.
Its loan accounts have been “irregular or substandard” since 2014, the company said in March. The defence contractor is in arbitration with ex-owners over the latter’s alleged breach of some warranties. Auditors in April cautioned against the firm’s ability to survive and two creditors have an ongoing lawsuit to send Reliance Naval into insolvency. In a stock exchange filing in April that sought to allay the auditor’s concerns, the company said it is engaged with its lenders and is confident on reaching a solution “to resolve the financial position of the company and to continue as a going concern.”
Other group units have also faced difficulties.
Another of Anil’s defence firms has come under scrutiny over the 2016 negotiations between France and India for $8.7 billion of French warplanes. In an Aug. 20 statement, Anil and his company denied allegations from opposition lawmakers that the deal unfairly benefited his company, saying the lawmakers had been “misinformed, misdirected and misled by malicious vested interests and corporate rivals.”
Missed Payment
Anil’s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd., which built Mumbai’s first metro line, missed a bond payment in August as it waited for proceeds from the sale of power transmission assets to fellow billionaire Gautam Adani’s unit to cover the amount. It plans to be debt-free by next year, Anil said at a briefing in August.
ALSO READ: Ambanis to Wadias, 10 family feuds in India's business houses
Electricity generator Reliance Power Ltd., also part of Anil’s group, has failed to stem a decade of overall decline in its shares since its record IPO in 2008, just as the global financial crisis hit.
The group’s profitable financial services firm Reliance Capital Ltd. has also seen its shares decline this year, despite staying away from bad news.
But the biggest challenge for Anil’s empire came from his brother’s business.
Reliance Communications Ltd., once the flagship of Anil’s portfolio, was battered by the price war Jio started. Last month, Rcom sold its 178,000 kilometre fibre-optic network for 30 billion rupees as part of a disposal that will see it divest of almost all of its wireless assets and exit from the mobile phone business.
The buyer was Mukesh’s Jio.
RCom “was the crown jewel given away to Anil Ambani after the family businesses split,” said Bhasin. “Then the debt and interest burden spiralled.”
In May, a creditor persuaded a court to begin insolvency proceedings for RCom before agreeing to an out-of-court settlement.
Bloomberg News is currently defending litigation brought by Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications in connection with previous Bloomberg reporting.
The sale of RCom assets to Jio brings the saga of the two brothers full circle and sets the stage for the next chapter in the story of one of India’s great business dynasties.
ALSO READ: Why Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, not Walmart, is Amazon's real rival in India
Anil is gradually unwinding RCom’s debts and refocusing the firm toward real estate. This month he told investors that a property development in Navi Mumbai, a planned city across the bay from India’s financial capital, will create 250 billion rupees in value for investors.
Late Coming
“It may be a late coming but at least he is not running away,” said Bhasin, who remains bullish on the group’s infrastructure, finance and power businesses.
Mukesh is gearing up for an even bigger gamble. In July he announced plans for an e-commerce foray that would marry the group’s telecom and retail business to take on global rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.
While the news helped boost shares of Mukesh’s Reliance Industries since the announcement, some investors are sounding a note of caution about another ambitious expansion. Reliance Industries’ total debt has risen in the past five years and non-core investments have shown muted returns on capital.
ALSO READ: Mukesh Ambani's aim to more than double RIL's size looks achievable
“There’s a reason investors put a discount on holding companies with diverse businesses,” said Crabtree, explaining that telecom diversification worked but “taking it much further may be one too many rolls of the dice.”
In the past few weeks, Mukesh has faced his own challenges.
A verdict by India’s top court last month barred the non-government use of a national biometric database that telecom operators including Jio had been using to sign up customers. The prospect of a multi-fold rise in verification costs for the telecom company, together with a slump in the rupee and rising oil prices contributed to a 12 per cent drop in Reliance Industries’ stock this month.
Still, the media spotlight has been on Mukesh and his wife Nita, head of the Reliance Foundation, for a very different reason. Both their eldest son and daughter got engaged this year, putting the Mumbai and Bollywood elite on high alert for two epic Indian weddings. Judging by Akash’s lavish engagement party this June in the family’s $1 billion Mumbai home with 27 stories and 600-staff, they won’t be disappointed.
The saga continues.

Tycoon Mukesh Ambani set to overtake Alibaba's Jack Ma as Asia's richest

Mukesh Ambani is poised to overtake Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma to become Asia’s richest person as he positions Reliance Industries to disrupt the e-commerce space in India.
The chairman of India’s refining-to-telecoms conglomerate, Ambani was estimated to be worth $44.3 billion on Friday with Reliance Industries Ltd. trading 1.7 percent higher, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The stock fetched 1,100.65 rupees as of 12.25 p.m. in Mumbai and is set for a record. Ma’s wealth stood at $44 billion at close of trade on Thursday in the US, where the company is listed.

Ambani has added $4 billion to his fortune this year as Reliance doubled its petrochemicals capacity and investors cheered the success of his disruptive telecom upstart Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Then earlier this month, the tycoon unveiled plans to leverage his 215 million telecom subscribers to expand his e-commerce offerings, taking on the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Ma has lost $1.4 billion in 2018.
“We need to broaden our horizon of expectation with Reliance,” said Nitin Tiwari, a Mumbai-based analyst at Antique Stock Broking. “They are in for something really transformational.”
Ambani, best known for executing large-scale projects, spearheaded construction of the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, owns the most-widespread mobile data network globally and claims to have India’s biggest as well as most-profitable retail firm.
At this month’s annual shareholders’ meeting, Ambani said Reliance saw its “biggest growth opportunity in creating a hybrid, online-to-offline new commerce platform,” involving the group’s Reliance Retail Ltd. and Reliance Jio businesses.
The latter will introduce a fiber-based broadband service across 1,100 Indian cities in August in what Ambani said would be the biggest greenfield fixed-line rollout anywhere in the world.
A spokesman for Reliance didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
Equity Culture
Within a week of the announcements, Reliance re-entered the $100 billion club after more than a decade. He used the same venue two years ago to announce his disruptive telecom venture with free offers that eventually forced smaller rivals to quit and the biggest ones to merge.
The billionaire inherited Reliance from his much-storied father Dhirubhai Ambani, who is credited with sparking an equity culture among middle-class Indians and using their savings to build the group’s textile and petrochemical manufacturing units.
Dhirubhai’s death in 2002 left the group in the hands of Mukesh and his younger brother Anil Ambani. The brothers eventually split the company in 2005, as per a family pact brokered by their mother, after years of acrimony.

Shareholders approve giving Mukesh Ambani another 5 years as RIL Chairman

Shareholders of Reliance Industries have approved giving Mukesh Ambani another five years as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company.
Ambani, 61, has been on the board of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) since 1977 and was elevated as Chairman of the company after the death of his father and group patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani in July 2002.

The company put a resolution to re-appoint Ambani "for a period of five years, on expiry of his present term of office, i e with effect from April 19, 2019" at the 41st Annual General Meeting held on July 5 in Mumbai.
As many as 50,818 crore shares out of a total share base of 616.45 crore voted on the resolution, RIL said in a regulatory filing. Of the votes polled, 98.5 per cent were in favour of the resolution while 1.48 voted against it.
According to the resolution, Ambani will be paid an annual salary of Rs 41.7 million and Rs 5.9 million of perquisites and allowances. Retirement benefits are not included in the overall ceiling of remuneration.
He will also be entitled to receive bonus based on net profits and "expenses incurred for travelling, boarding and lodging, including for spouse and attendant(s) during business trips and provision of car(s) for use on company's business and communication expenses at residence shall be reimbursed at actuals and not considered as perquisites," it said.
Also, "the expenses, as may be borne by the company for providing security to Shri Mukesh D Ambani and his family members shall not be considered as perquisites and accordingly, not to be included for the purpose of computation of the overall ceiling of remuneration," the resolution, which was carried at the AGM, said.
After Dhirubhai Ambani's demise on July 6, 2012, Mukesh was elected Chairman and Managing Director of RIL, while younger brother Anil was elected Vice Chairman and MD.
The two siblings parted ways in 2005 and divided the business their father created between them.
At the AGM, shareholders also allowed RIL to raise up to Rs 200 billion through a non-convertible debenture (NCD) issue in 2018-19, according to the regulatory filing.
RIL wants to "offer or invite subscriptions for secured / unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures, in one or more series / tranches, of an aggregate nominal value up to Rs 200 billion, on private placement, from such persons and on such terms and conditions as the Board of Directors of the company may, from time to time, determine and consider proper and most beneficial".
The company did not say where the proceeds will be utilised.

Mukesh Ambani keeps salary capped at Rs 150 million for 10th year in a row

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani has kept his annual salary from company Reliance Industries capped at Rs 150 million for the tenth year on the trot.
Ambani has kept salary, perquisites and allowances and commission together at Rs 150 million since 2008-09, forgoing almost Rs 240 million per annum.

This is at a time when remunerations of all whole-time directors of the company, including cousins Nikhil and Hital Meswani, saw handsome raise in the fiscal year ended on March 31, 2018.
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"Compensation of Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, has been set at Rs 150 million, reflecting his desire to continue to set a personal example for moderation in managerial compensation levels," RIL said in its latest annual report.
His remuneration for 2017-18 included Rs 40.49 million as salary and allowances, which is marginally higher than Rs 41.6 million he got in previous 2016-17 fiscal. Commission has however been unchanged at Rs 95.3 million while perquisites have declined to Rs 2.7 million from Rs 6 million. Retirement benefits were Rs 7.1 millon.
Ambani voluntarily capped his compensation at Rs 150 million in October 2009 amid a debate over right-sizing of CEO salaries.
The salary cap continued even as all other executive directors saw their remunerations go up.
Ambani's cousins Nikhil R Meswani and Hital R Meswani saw their compensation rise to Rs 199.9 million each. They had earned Rs 165.8 million each in 2016-17. In 2015-16, Nikhil had got Rs 144.2 million while Hital took home Rs 144.1 million. In 2014-15, they had got Rs 120.3 million each.
Also, one of his key executives, Executive Director P M S Prasad saw his remuneration go up to Rs 80.99 million from Rs 78.7 million in 2016-17, Rs 72.3 million in 2015-16 and Rs 60.3 million in 2014-15.
Refinery chief Pawan Kumar Kapil saw his compensation rise to Rs 30.47 million. In the previous fiscal, his remuneration had fallen to Rs 25.4 million, from Rs 29.4 million in 2015-16. He had earned Rs 24.10 million in 2014-15.
RIL's non-executive directors, including Nita Ambani, also got Rs 10.5 million each as commission, besides sitting fees. The commission was Rs 10.30 million in the previous year.
Ambani's wife Nita Ambani, a non-executive director on the company's board, earned Rs 600,000 sitting fee.
Apart from Ambani, the RIL board has Meswani brothers, Prasad and Kapil as wholetime directors.
Besides Nita Ambani, other non-executive directors include Mansingh L Bhakta, Yogendra P Trivedi, D V Kapur, Ashok Misra, Dipak C Jain, Raghunath A Mashelkar, Adil Zainulbhai, Raminder Singh Gujral and Shumeet Banerji.

Mukesh Ambani's daughter Isha to tie knot with Anand Piramal in December

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani's daughter Isha will wed Ajay Piramal's son Anand in December, sources said.
Isha is the twin sister of Akash who was recently engaged to Shloka Mehta, daughter of diamantaire Russel Mehta. Their wedding too is planned for December.

Piramal group did not respond to an email sent for comments.
Anand and Isha have been friends for long and their families have shared a strong friendship for over four decades, the sources said.
Anand is the founder of Piramal Realty. Prior to that, he had founded Piramal Swasthaya, a rural healthcare initiative.
He is also an executive director of the Piramal group, a global business conglomerate.
Isha, on the other hand, is on the boards of Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail.
The sources said that Anand proposed to Isha at a temple in Mahabaleshwar.
People aware of the development said the couple celebrated the occasion at a lunch with their parents Nita, Mukesh, Swati and Ajay.
Isha's grandparents, Kokilaben Ambani and Purnimaben Dalal and bothers Akash and Anant were also present.

RIL Q4FY18 results: Net profit at Rs 94.35 bn; Jio's net at Rs 5.10 bn

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd today reported a 17.3 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 94.35 billion for the quarter ending March 31, 2018. Its revenue stood at Rs 1291.20 billion, an increase of 39 per cent compared to Rs 928.89 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Higher interest and depreciation charges with the commissioning of projects across businesses, however, resulted in relatively lower growth in profit after tax.
Reliance Jio Infocom reported second quarterly net profit at Rs 5.1 billion, marginally up from the preceding quarter ending December when the telecom subsidiary showed profit for the first time at Rs 5.04 billion. For 2017-18, the Jio operations reported a PAT of Rs 7.23 billion against a loss of Rs 31 million in 2016-17.

Gross Refining Margin (GRM) was down marginally at $11 a barrel for the quarter from $11.6 in the previous quarter. Increase in consolidated revenue is primarily on account of volume increase with start-up of petrochemicals projects and oil price related increase in realizations for refining and petrochemical products. The company said increase in consolidated revenues reflect robust growth of 134 per cent in retail business and continuing growth momentum in wireless subscriber additions for digital services business.
For the full year 2017-18, RIL recorded consolidated revenue of Rs 4307.31 billion, an increase of 30.5 per cent, as compared to Rs 3301.8 billion in the previous year. "Increase in revenue is primarily on account of higher volumes with start-up of petrochemicals projects and uptrend in prices of products in refining and petrochemical businesses," the company said in its press statement.
Exports (including deemed exports) from India during the January-March 2018 quarter were higher by 32.5 per cent at Rs 512.95 billion ($ 7.9 billion) as against Rs 387.18 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year due to higher volumes and product prices in refining and petrochemical business.
Commencement of digital services business, petrochemical projects at Jamnagar and higher loan balances during the quarter ending March 2018, pushed up the company's finance cost jumped to Rs 25.66 billion ($394 million) as against Rs 5.56 billion in the last quarter of 2016-17.
Commenting on the results, Mukesh D. Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL, said, “The year 2017-18 was a landmark year for Reliance where we established several records on both operating and financial parameters. Reliance has become the first Indian company to record PBDIT of over $10 billion with each of our key businesses - refining, petrochemicals, retail and digital services achieving record earnings performance. Substantial synergies, productivity gains and production growth in our energy and materials business has allowed us to perform at very competitive levels despite the uptrend in oil prices through the year."
Increase in petroleum product prices were led by 18 per cent YoY increase in Brent oil price to $57.5 a barrel.
RIL's consolidated revenue was also boosted by robust growth in retail and digital services business. Reliance Retail recorded a 105 per cent surge in revenue to Rs 691.98 billion. RJIL’s Wireless Telecommunication Network recorded revenue of Rs 239.16 billion in its very first year of commercial operations.

Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal plan Rs 365 bn war chest in telecom fight

Companies owned by billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal may raise as much as Rs 365 billion ($5.6 billion) selling bonds as the telecom titans build a war chest in what investors hope will be the home stretch in India’s bruising tariff war.
Mittal-controlled Bharti Airtel Ltd., which sold its first-ever rupee bond of Rs 30 billion last month, has approval to raise Rs 165 billion, according to a March 12 filing. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. announced days later that it plans to sell as much as Rs 200 billion of notes, marking the disruptive upstart’s return to the onshore bond market after 20 months.

The fundraising amount -- about 78 percent of the total outstanding bonds of India’s top four telecom firms -- signal that the largest carrier and its rival Jio are gearing to roll out next-generation services and manage about Rs 320 billion of debt due in the next five years. Jio stormed into the mobile-phone market in 2016 with free services that set off a tariff war and forced smaller players to merge or exit.
“After four years of intense price pain, the India telecom battle could be in its last stretch,” said Raj Kothari, head of trading at Jay Capital Ltd. in London. “It’s down to the big boys and they are piling up funds for that.”
Emails sent to Bharti and Jio spokesmen seeking details on use of funds went unanswered.
Bharti said in the filing that the money would be be used for treasury activities, including refinancing, and for paying off spectrum dues. Jio hasn’t specified end use, though it has significant repayments due in the next few years, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The total debt at four publicly traded wireless operators -- Bharti, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications Ltd. and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd. -- has jumped 55 percent since the end of March 2016 to $34.81 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Jio, being a new player, needs to spend aggressively to grab market share, while Bharti is investing more to retain its lead, said Mehul Sukkawala, senior director for corporate ratings at S&P Global Ratings. “This competition could move to the fiber-to-home business in the future and the related bundling of services with fiber.”
Jio secured AAA rating for Rs 150 billion of debentures last week from Crisil Ltd., a unit of S&P Global, which cited the “irrevocable and unconditional” support from parent Reliance Industries Ltd. India’s most valuable company has invested at least $31 billion in the telecom venture. Crisil rates Bharti’s rupee notes at AA+.
Bharti and Jio won’t have a problem finding buyers, Jay Capital’s Kothari said. “Both have a good pedigree. Their debt will easily get consumed.”