NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries on Monday conducted its 45th annual general meeting (AGM). This is the 3rd time when RIL conducted its AGM virtually.
Over the years, Mukesh Ambani’s once-a-year speech to investors has evolved into an eagerly-awaited pronouncement on his $222 billion empire.
Addressing the shareholders today, Ambani said that there is severe economic stress in many parts of the world, but India has showed good resilience.
"There is uncertainty due to heightened geopolitical tensions and global risks. Amid global crisis, India stands as a beacon of growth and stability," he said.
The RIL chief introduced daughter Isha as leader of his conglomerate's retail business as he detailed succession planning at India's most valuable firm.
In addition, Ambani said his youngest son Anant will be the leader of the company's new energy business.
Here are the key points from RIL's AGM:
* Rs 2 lakh crore investment in Jio 5G
Reliance Jio plans to invest Rs 2 lakh crore for its 5G network, Ambani said at the AGM.
The company plans to launch the high-speed services in key cities by Diwali and across India by December 2023.
Jio, the nation's largest telecom operator, has deployed standalone 5G stack rather than upgrading the existing 4G network, to offer ultra-high speed internet, he said.
"To build our pan-India true 5G network, we have committed a total investment of Rs 2 lakh crore. Jio has prepared the fastest ever and most ambitious 5G rollout plan for a country of our size. Within the next two months. That is by Diwali, we will launch Jio 5G across multiple key cities including metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata," he said.
The company had emphasised that it is fully ready for 5G rollout in the shortest period of time, backed by nationwide fibre presence, an all-IP network with no legacy infrastructure, an indigenous 5G stack and strong global partnerships across the technology ecosystem.
* WhatsApp-JioMart partnership
Meta and Jio Platforms have launched an end-to-end shopping experience, where users can shop from e-commerce platform JioMart via using WhatsApp chat.
The new experience will enable customers to browse the JioMart catalog, add products to the cart and make purchases all within WhatsApp
The launch is part of a strategic partnership between Meta and Jio Platforms to accelerate India's digital transformation and provide people and businesses of all sizes opportunities to connect in new ways and fuel economic growth in the country.
Demonstrating the process for users, Reliance Retail head Isha Ambani said, "During the year, we strengthened our own brands’ presence by launching several new products across categories of staples, home, personal care and general merchandise. Further, we launched our WhatsApp-JioMart partnership."
She further added that RIL's digital commerce platforms -- Reliance Digital and JioMart provide comprehensive omni-channel network, enabling us to deliver 93% online orders from stores within 6 hours.
* Qualcomm partnership
After collaborating with world's leading technology companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, Ericsson and others, Reliance has now announced its latest partnership with Qualcomm.
This partnership between Qualcomm and Jio will develop 5G solutions for India, Mukesh Ambani said.
Speaking at Reliance Industries' 45th AGM, he said the firm is partnering with Google to develop ultra-affordable 5G smartphones and Google Cloud.
It has now forged a collaboration with Qualcomm to develop a 5G solution for India, which can be taken to the rest of the world, he added.
* Reliance Retail to launch FMCG business
Reliance Retail will launch its FMCG business this year, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd Director Isha Ambani said.
The objective of this business will be to develop and deliver products and solve every Indian's daily needs, with high quality products at affordable pricing, she said while addressing Reliance Industries' annual general meeting.
"This year, we will launch our FMCG goods business," she said.
Besides, Reliance Retail will start marketing goods produced by Indian artisans.
"As part of our commitment to India's rich culture and heritage, we will soon start marketing quality goods produced by tribals and other marginalised communities across India," Isha Ambani said.
* Rs 75,000 crore investment in petrochemicals
RIL will invest Rs 75,000 crore in the next five years to expand petrochemical capacity, its chairman Mukesh Ambani said.
The investments will be in setting up a PTA plant, expanding polyester capacity, tripling capacity of vinyl chain and a chemical unit in UAE.
* New energy business
Announcing Reliance's new energy business, Mukesh Ambani said: "The sheer magnitude of this responsibility and opportunity has made our new energy business far more ambitious, far more transformational, and far more global in scope than anything Reliance has ever done before."
He announced RIL's new giga factory for power electronics today.
Last year, Ambani had announced setting up pf Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga complex in Jamnagar to establish 4 giga factories.
"For solar PV manufacturing, we have acquired REC Solar. Our 10GW solar PV cell and module factory at Jamnagar, based on REC technology, will commence production by 2024 and scale up to 20GW capacity by 2026," Ambani said.
This will be first of its kind of ‘quartz-to-module’ facility globally from quartz, to metallurgical silicon, to polysilicon, to ingots and wafers and integrate them with cells and modules, he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
