Mukesh charts cash course RIL unveils investment road map for 3 years

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Mukesh Ambani with son Akash, daughter Isha, wife Neeta and mother Kokilaben in Mumbai on Thursday. (PTI) Mumbai, June 6: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will spend more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore across five major verticals over the next three years. The textiles-to-oil giant will shovel the money — its biggest investment so far — not only in its core businesses of exploration, refining and petrochemicals, but also in retail and fourth-generation broadband and digital services, RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said here today. Addressing the shareholders at the company's 39th annual general meeting, Ambani said the company was bullish about the potential of the Indian economy, prompting it to make the investments. "The future is going to be far more exciting than the past. Which is why, Reliance will continue to invest in India and in its potential," Ambani said. In exploration and production, Ambani said more prospects had been lined up for drilling in the Krishna-Godavari and Cauvery basins. Moreover, the company along with partner BP will expedite the appraisal and development of a recent discovery in KG-D6. "Various production augmentation efforts are underway, including maximising recovery from the existing fields in the KG-D6 block. Additional hydrocarbon resources in the KG-D6 and NEC25 blocks are planned to be developed over the next few years, subject to regulatory approvals," he told the shareholders. RIL is planning to develop two coal bed methane blocks at Sohagpur in Madhya Pradesh. While approvals are awaited to connect to the major pipeline grid of the country for utilisation of the gas by various consumers, Reliance expects the first gas from these fields to flow in 2015. The development of these blocks is also expected to make Reliance the largest player in the unconventional energy sector in India. Shale prospects Reliance is also betting big on shale gas. The company forayed into this segment by entering into three joint ventures in the US in 2010. Revenues from shale gas in 2012-13 doubled over the previous year. Ambani said production of shale gas would be more than one-third of its aggregate production this year. The Ambani flagship is also making huge investments in petrochemicals. Besides increasing its polyester capacity by 1.5 million tonnes to 4 million tonnes, RIL will commission a PTA (an intermediate used to make polyester fibre) plant in the first half of next year followed by another plant of the same capacity. According to Ambani, the company's expansion in petrochemicals is the largest for the sector in the world. Ambani's announcements at the shareholders' meeting, however, failed to cheer up the stock market. After falling over 1.5 per cent to Rs 788.20 in intra-day trade, the bellwether scrip ended the day at Rs 792.30, down 1.03 per cent from its previous close on the BSE. On the NSE, the scrip was down 1.38 per cent to Rs 790.95. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130607/jsp/business/story_16981035.jsp#.UbHukNKBlA0