Reliance Industries' 47th AGM: Bonus Issue, New Energy Business, and AI Innovations

Fair Share: RIL Mulls Bonus Issue

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will consider a bonus issue, the first in seven years, and turn itself into a deep-tech, new-energy leader with advanced manufacturing capabilities, chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday.Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will consider a bonus issue, the first in seven years, and turn itself into a deep-tech, new-energy leader with advanced manufacturing capabilities, chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday, outlining his vision for India's largest company by market capitalisation. He sees RIL as one of the top 30 most valuable companies globally in the near future, up from among the top 50 now. Ambani added that RIL's board will meet on September 5 to consider issuing one new share for each held. RIL last awarded its shareholders a 1:1 bonus in September 2017 and before that in November 2009. After the announcement, RIL's shares rose 1.5% to ₹3,040.85 on the BSE. The benchmark Sensex ended 0.43% higher. "When Reliance grows, we reward our shareholders handsomely," Ambani told shareholders at the 47th AGM that was held virtually. "And when our shareholders are rewarded handsomely, Reliance grows faster and creates more value." While Reliance took over two decades to get into the global top 500, the next 20 years saw it joining the league of the world's top 50 most valuable companies. "With our strategic adoption of deep tech and advanced manufacturing, I can clearly see Reliance earning a place in the top 30 league in the near future," he said. Reliance currently has a market capitalisation of $245 billion and is ranked 128 in the top 500. Reliance Jio, which aims to double its revenue and Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) in the next three-four years, will launch an AI-Cloud Welcome Offer this Diwali to drive the oil-to-telecoms conglomerate's AI Everywhere For Everyone campaign. "Jio users will get up to 100 GB of free cloud storage to securely store and access photos, videos, documents, all other digital content and data," Ambani said. "And we will have the most affordable prices in the market for those needing even higher storage." RIL expects 5G adoption on Jio's network to accelerate as 5G smartphones become more affordable. The telecom market leader's revenue topped the ₹1 lakh crore mark in FY24 while annual profit exceeded ₹20,000 crore. Jio, he said, is also swiftly ramping up its 5G-based fixed wireless access (FWA) services business amid rapid adoption. It expects to acquire 100 million Jio AirFiber customers shortly. "We are challenging ourselves to add a million homes every 30 days, and with this momentum are confident of reaching our target of 100 million home broadband customers at record speed," he said. Ambani said rising migration to 5G would free up 4G capacity. That would enable Jio to attract the bulk of the remaining 200 million or so 2G users to its 4G services. Jio is among India's top holders of patents, with over 350 patents in 5G and 6G technologies alone. These patents, he said, are key to securing Jio's place at the forefront of global innovation, adding that the company has filed patents in 6G, 5G, AI-Large Language Models, AI-Deep Learning, Big Data, Devices, Internet of Things, and Narrowband-IoT. On Jio's AI ambitions, Ambani said the telco is developing a suite of tools and platforms that span the entire AI lifecycle to streamline adoption. Parent RIL also plans to establish gigawatt-scale, AI-ready data centres in Jamnagar, powered entirely by Reliance's green energy. RIL expects to double revenue and Ebitda in the next three-four years at its retail business. It has plans to expand the jewellery business into the luxury and fashion segments. The company is also launching a new retail format for the latest mobiles and laptops. Reliance Retail Ventures director Isha Ambani said the company has "ambitious plans to enter the luxury jewellery segment with a curated, design-led experience and are exploring the fashion jewellery and accessories segment to broaden market reach." RIL unit Reliance Retail Ventures is the holding company for the group's retail businesses. The company is expanding its big-box Reliance Digital format, apart from a "new productivity-focused format for the latest mobiles and laptops," said Isha Ambani. ET had reported on this expansion into a new format in October 2022. Isha Ambani said Reliance's investments in brands such as Kalanikethan, Zivame, Clovia, Amante and Urban Ladder have given it a strong foothold in these categories. She said its own brands such as Avaasa, Netplay and DNMX each surpassed the ₹2,000 crore annual sales milestone in FY24, while John Players and Teamspirit crossed ₹1,000 crore in sales. In grocery retail, she said Reliance is expanding at 2.5 times the rest of modern trade, driven by a focus on smaller towns where over two-thirds of the new stores are opening. "In many of these markets, we are the first modern retailer to establish a presence. At the same time, we are selectively expanding our premium formats, Fresh Signature and Freshpik, in large cities," she said. RIL will commence the production of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules by the end of this year. The company had in 2021 announced plans to invest $10 billion over three years to develop a new energy business based on 100 GW of renewable power capacity by 2030. This includes setting up four giga factories to manufacture renewable equipment, battery storage, fuel cells, and hydrogen at Jamnagar in Gujarat. "In the following quarters, we will complete the first phase of our integrated solar production facilities. This includes modules, cells, glass, wafer, ingot, and polysilicon, with an initial annual capacity of 10 GW," Mukesh Ambani said. RIL is also targeting the industrialisation of sodium-ion cell production at the MW level in 2025 and the piloting of the first 50 MWh a year of lithium battery cells in 2026. It has begun work on establishing a fully automated, multi-GW electrolyser manufacturing facility that will be ready by 2026. "This giga factory will be fully adaptable, capable of supporting various technologies such as alkaline, PEM (proton-exchange membrane) and AEM (advanced electrolyte model). The facility is built using Industry 4.0 standards and will be expandable in a modular fashion to meet market demand," Ambani added. RIL, which has leased arid wasteland in Kutch, 250 km from Jamnagar, will use it to generate about 150 billion units of electricity in the next 10 years, providing nearly 10% of India's energy requirements. It is also building its own transmission infrastructure to bring online solar generation projects to deliver renewable energy on a round-the-clock basis (RE-RTC) at GW scale in a phased manner starting 2026. "Our new energy business will be the new jewel in Reliance's crown. I foresee it becoming as big and profitable over the next five-seven years, as our O2C (oil-to-chemicals) business which we had built over the past 40 years," he said.

1:1 Bonus Issue, New Energy Facilities, AI Initiatives: Key Takeaways From RIL AGM 2024 Today - News18

RIL AGM 2024: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Thursday made a slew of announcements during the company's 47th AGM, including bonus issue, AI initiatives under 'Jio Brain', Jio AI-Cloud welcome offer, and future business plans, especially the new energy segment. He also mentioned RIL's stellar financial numbers for the financial year 2023-24. Key takeaways: RIL AGM 2024: Reliance Jio Reliance Jio, which began its journey in 2016, has transformed India into an inclusive, premier digital society within eight years, said Mukesh Ambani while addressing Reliance Industries's 47th annual general meeting (AGM). He said Jio has grown to become the world's largest mobile data company. He said Jio stands as a true deep-tech innovator. At the core of our success is our fully homegrown 5G stack, developed by Jio's talented engineers. This end-to-end solution, tailored for India's unique needs, has proven itself on a national scale. Ambani introduced 'Jio Brain', a comprehensive suite of tools and platforms that span the entire AI lifecycle. It will transform healthcare services, entertainment, agriculture, and education services. He also announced the Jio AI-Cloud Welcome offer, to support the company's 'AI Everywhere For Everyone' vision using the Connected Intelligence. RIL AGM 2024: Bonus Issue to Shareholders Reliance Industries Ltd's board meeting is scheduled for September 5, 2024. The board will consider the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 to the equity shareholders of the company by capitalisation of reserves. Previously, prior to the 1:1 bonus issue in 2017, Reliance had in 2009 issued 1:1 bonus share. Shares of RIL on Thursday jumped Rs 45.1 or 1.51 per cent to close at Rs 3,040.85 apiece on the BSE. RIL AGM 2024: Reliance FY24 Performance Reliance invested cumulatively over Rs 5.28 lakh crore ($66.0 billion) in the last three years. The company posted a record consolidated turnover of Rs 10,00,122 crore ($119.9 billion) in FY24, becoming India's first company ever to cross Rs 10 lakh crore ($119.9 billion) mark in the annual revenues. Its EBITDA stood at Rs 1,78,677 crore ($21.4 billion), while the net profit was Rs 79,020 crore ($9.5 billion), he said. Reliance's exports were Rs 2,99,832 crore ($35.9 billion), accounting for 8.2 per cent of India's total merchandise exports. Reliance remained the single largest contributor to the national exchequer, contributing Rs 1,86,440 crore ($22.4 billion) through various taxes and duties in FY 2023-24. RIL AGM 2024: Media & Entertainment RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said Reliance's media business achieved over Rs 10,000 crore ($1.2 billion) of revenue. This represents an industry-leading growth of 49 per cent. RIL AGM 2024: Reliance Retail Reliance Retail recorded a gross revenue of Rs 3,06,848 crore ($36.8 billion), a growth of 17.8 per cent over last year. The company continued its trajectory of strong profit growth, registering an EBITDA of Rs 23,082 crore ($2.8 billion), up 28.4 per cent YoY and net profit of ₹11,101 crore ($1.3 billion), up 21% YoY. "At 8.5 per cent, the EBITDA margin continued to show improvements and grew 70 bps YoY," Isha Ambani, who leads the group's retail business, said. RIL AGM 2024: Oil & Gas, Oil-To-Chemical Businesses Despite global geopolitical challenges and a weak economic growth in the wester countries, Reliance navigated through the headwinds to deliver industry-leading performance. The oil-to-chemical (O2C) business achieved revenues of Rs 5,64,749 crore ($67.9 billion) and an EBITDA of Rs 62,393 crore ($7.5 billion) last year. RIL AGM 2024: New Energy Business On the new energy business, Mukesh Ambani said, "This is a business with a special purpose, driven by our deep commitment to the philosophy of 'We Care' for our Mother Earth." In 2023, India generated nearly 1,600 billion units of electricity. To meet India's growth projections, this number needs to double in the next 10 years, he added. Ambani announced that RIL will begin the production of its own solar photovoltaic (PV) modules by the end of this year. The company's integrated solar production facilities will include modules, cells, glass, wafer, ingot, and polysilicon, with an initial annual capacity of 10 GW. "In the following quarters, we will complete the first phase of our integrated solar production facilities," the RIL chairman said. Reliance's giga-factory is designed for modular expansion at minimal cost and in the shortest time possible, he said. He also announced that RIL has begun work on establishing a fully automated, multi-GW electrolyser manufacturing facility on the west coast of India, which will be ready by 2026. This giga-factory will be fully adaptable, capable of supporting various technologies such as Alkaline, PEM, and AEM. "Jamnagar is the Energy Capital of the World. I am proud to say that by 2025, Jamnagar will also become the cradle of our New Energy business. The Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Manufacturing Complex will be the world's largest, most modern, modular, and integrated ecosystem at a single location," Ambani said. "I have full confidence that the growth prospects of all our businesses will become a reality within the timelines outlined by me," the RIL chairman said.

Reliance 47th AGM 2024: Here is the full speech by Mukesh Ambani, Akash Ambani, Isha Ambani and other

Reliance Industries' 47th AGM revealed major updates including bonus shares and the expansion of Jio and Reliance Retail. Chairman Mukesh Ambani emphasized AI's transformative role and the company's deep tech ambitions. New AI tools and home-grown technologies aim to propel Reliance into a leading global tech enterprise, focusing on hyper-growth and multiplying value.