Hyderabad: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani addressed the company’s 43rd annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday on an online platform for the first time, making some key announcements about the company’s three key business verticals – Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail and oils-to-chemicals (O2C) division.
Ambani also announced an investment by US tech giant Google in Jio Platforms as well as ‘Made-In-India’ 5G platform.
Here’s a detailed look at the major announcements:
Google’s investment in Jio Platforms
- RIL signed a binding agreement with Google for an investment of Rs 33,737 crore in Jio Platforms.
- Google’s investment will translate into a 7.73% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.
- Google and Jio are also partnering to build a smartphone Operating System (OS) that could power a value engineered, entry-level 4G/5G smartphone.
- “The Jio-Google partnership is determined to make India 2G-mukt,” said Mukesh Ambani on this partnership.
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a video message said Investment in RIL would be the company’s biggest investment under the recently announced $10 billion digitisation fund for India.
New 5G Platform
- Jio has developed home-grown 5G platform, said Ambani. This ‘Made-in-India’ 5G technology will be available for trials as soon as the 5G spectrum would be available, with field deployment likely to be happening next year.
- Once the technology is established in India, Jio Platforms will be positioned as 5G solution provider to other telecom operators across the globe, Ambani added.
- Mukesh Ambani dedicated the 5G Solution to Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.
Jio TV+, Jio Glass, Jio Meet
- Akash Ambani, the eldest son of Mukesh Ambani, gave a demo of Jio TV+, showing how the platform can curate OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar, among others, into one app, with a voice-enabled search function.
- Mukesh Ambani said JioMeet, which was used as a platform to conduct RIL’s virtual AGM, has seen 5 million downloads within days of its launch.
- Jio’s latest innovation, Jio Glass, was unveiled that will provide best-in-class Mixed Reality services.
- JioGlass, weighing just 75gms, can be connected by a single-cable and already has 25 apps that allow augmented reality video meetings and more.
- Isha Ambani highlighted how Jio Meet can work in the areas of education and healthcare.
- Jio’s education platform, Embibe, was also unveiled that aims to address the shortage of quality teachers in India.
- “It is built on three foundational blocks: Unprecedented Personalisation, Incredible Content and Teacher Empowerment,” said Isha Ambani.
- “With Jio Health Platform, we are integrating the overall healthcare ecosystem to enable people to book online consultations, securely store and share health records, book lab tests and avail various other healthcare services,” said Isha Ambani.
JioMart
- Jio Mart has reached 200 cities in India and is servicing 2.5 lakh orders per day
- JioMart is helping to convert existing small kirana stores in less than 48 hours into refreshed self-service stores, said Isha Ambani
- JioMart is being built on two fundamental pillars – 1) A powerful omni-channel tech-platform to unite customers, kiranas and producers. 2) A widespread physical network of Reliance Retail that takes benefits of new commerce to every corner.
- Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg in a video message said; “Small businesses are at the core of every country’s economy… We are working together on critical projects that will open up new opportunities for commerce in India.”
Reliance Retail
- Mukesh Ambani said the retail venture has received strong interest from strategic and financial investors. “We will induct global partners and investors in Reliance Retail in the next few quarters,” he said.
- Reliance Retail is India’s largest and most profitable retail business, said Mukesh Ambani. Revenue from retail business grew 8 times in last five years, while profit grew 11 times during the period.
- More than two-thirds of nearly 12,000 stores are operated in Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV towns.
Oil-to-Chemicals Business
- Saudi Aramco deal has not progressed as per the earlier timeline due to unforeseen circumstances and COVID-19, informed Mukesh Ambani.
- “We value our two-decade relationship with Aramco and are committed to a long-term partnership,” Ambani said without giving details on new timelines or whether the deal was still on track or not.
- RIL has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with its proposal to spin off the O2C business into a separate subsidiary to facilitate multiple partnership opportunities.
- “We expect to complete this process by early 2021,” said Mukesh Ambani.
- Mukesh Ambani also outlined a 15-year vision to build RIL as one of the world’s leading ‘New Energy and New Materials’ company.
- “The New Energy business is a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for India and the world,” said Ambani.
- “The world needs access to clean and affordable energy. The energy industry must adopt a planet-friendly model. We are committed to convert CO2 emissions into high value products. We are targeting to become net carbon-neutral by 2035,” said Ambani.
Other key announcements
- Den Networks and Hathway Cables will be merged with Network18. The merger will be subject to necessary approvals, said Mukesh Ambani
- RIL has raised a total of Rs 2,12,809 crore through investments in Jio, partnership with BP and the recent rights issue, helping it achieve its goal net debt-free company well ahead of its target.
- Mukesh Ambani said the company has completed its capital raising target, and is now looking to add only a strategic partner.
- RIL has become the first Indian company to cross Rs 1 lakh crore EBITDA-mark (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization), said Mukesh Ambani, highlighting that the m-cap has also crossed Rs 12 lakh crore.
- RIL continues to be India’s biggest exporter, at 9% of total exports.
- In the context of Ccovid-19 pandemic, Reliance Foundation chairperson and founder Nita Ambani said: “I assure to you that as soon as a vaccine against COVID-19 is available, we will use our digital infrastructure and supply chain to ensure it reaches every corner of the country.”
(ETV BHARAT REPORT)
