The benefits of Reliance Industries' large investments into petrochemicals and telecom will start showing in the next 12-18 months, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, RIL, said at the company's annual general meeting.
Reliance Industries has invested over Rs. 2 lakh crore, of which Rs 1 lakh crore was invested in the last financial year. The investment was to enhance its petrochemical infrastructure and build a brand new telecom business, among other projects.
Reliance Retail, which operates across various product categories and formats, said that it has attained revenues of over Rs 17,000 crore last year.
“We achieved record profits of Rs 784 crore at an EBITDA level,” said Ambani.
Despite the challenges faced in a tough consumer environment, the retail business had achieved a compounded annual revenue growth of 31 per cent in the last five years.
The company said it has accelerated its pace of growth by adding 930 new stores.
“We currently have a network of over 2,600 stores and presence in 200 cities across 20 states,” he added.
The company said it is ramping up its retail presence across formats from 200 cities to over 900 cities by next year.
PTI adds: Reliance will commission 1.15 million tonnes of PTA capacity at Dahej by October to make it the fifth-largest PTA producer in the world, Ambani said.
Reliance plans to re-commission its entire network of 1,400 petrol pumps by FY16-end; currently, nearly 400 outlets are operational, he said.
It is important for the Government to get the risk/reward balance right in the E&P sector, provide marketing and pricing freedom. This will provide predictability and certainty to investors, Ambani said.
He said the returns from the oil and gas exploration and production business were lower than the cost of capital.