History of Reliance Industries — from Dhirubhai Ambani’s vision to a Household Name

If I ask you to think of an Indian company, it is highly probable that Reliance Industries will be the first name that will cross your mind. Headquartered in Mumbai, it became the first Indian company to cross a market capitalization of ₹20 lakh crore! 

What made it mighty? What was its first business? How did it all start? In this article, we’ll understand how Dhirubhai Ambani became so rich, how Reliance Industries started and what makes it the company that it is today. Keep reading to find out interesting facts about Reliance Industries.

History of Reliance Industries

How did Dhirubhai Ambani get richie-rich?

Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, a.k.a, Dhirubhai Ambani was raised in a low-income household. One would expect that someone who started working at a petrol pump would aspire to own a good car or bike someday. But Dhirubhai Ambani’s dreams were huge.

While working at the petrol pump in Yemen, he used to have tea at 5-star hotels instead of regular tea stalls, though it was available at four times the price! While sipping his tea, he would listen to the conversations of businessmen who would often meet at such hotels. As a result, he gained great insight into how businesses were run.

In 1958, he quit his job in Yemen and moved to Mumbai. He invested ₹15,000 and started trading in spices along with his business partner Champaklal Damani. The business did well for a few years, but Ambani wanted more. When Damani disagreed to expand the business, Ambani put an end to his partnership and started a new business in 1966. This business was called Reliance Commercial Corporation, better known as Reliance Industries today!

Modest Beginnings, Mammoth Aspirations

Dhirubhai Ambani was someone who took calculated risks after understanding the market and his capabilities. He won people’s trust, making him one of the most successful businessmen.

Reliance came up with its IPO in 1977, a time when the Indian equity market was at its nascent stages. A small percentage of people invested in equities and many people believed that it was very risky to invest in the stock market. Yet, Reliance’s IPO got oversubscribed by 7 times, with 58,000 investors!

Ambani promised Indians that whoever is invested in the shares of Reliance in its early stages will become a crorepati on some or the other day. And this happened for real!

Today, Reliance Industries is an oil-to-telecom conglomerate and it touches the lives of various people on a daily basis, with a presence in over 100 countries! It is the biggest company in India in terms of market capitalization. 

Succession

Dhirubhai Ambani passed away in 2002 and did not leave a will. Mukesh Ambani became the chairman and managing director, while Anil Ambani became the vice-chairman. Everything looked fine, but a storm was brewing beneath the surface. After a massive feud, their mother Kokilaben inked a deal to split Reliance Industries into two parts.

On June 18, 2005, Reliance Industries including petrochemicals, oil & gas exploration, refining and textiles went to Mukesh Ambani. Meanwhile, Anil Ambani was bestowed with the financial services business, power, entertainment and telecommunication. 

In 2020, Anil Ambani declared that his net worth is zero, while Mukesh Ambani features among the top ten richest businessmen in the world.

Currently, Isha Ambani runs the retail leg of Reliance Industries, Akash Ambani is the head of the telecom business — Reliance Jio and Anant Ambani is in charge of the new green energy business of the company.

Businesses

Reliance Industries competes with companies in almost all sectors in India. The list includes retail, electronics, e-commerce, oil and gas, media, healthcare, online education, wallets and payments, video conferencing, telecom, and music streaming, among others. Let’s take a look at some of its major businesses.

Textiles

Reliance Industries’ journey to help India meet its ever-growing needs began with textiles. Its aim was to provide affordable and fashionable clothing to every Indian. It started with its brand called ‘Only Vimal’.

It is said that Dhirubhai Ambani’s brother Ramnikbhai helped him set up the Reliance Textile Industries mill at Naroda. In turn, Dhirubhai Ambani named the fabric after his son Vimal Ambani, in order to express gratitude.

Petrochemicals

From textiles, Reliance Industries kickstarted its backward journey by expanding to petrochemicals and then into refining and marketing. It became one of the first businesses to manage a fully integrated Oil-to-Chemicals (O2C) portfolio. 

Reliance Industries portfolio includes its fuel retailing partnership with bp, called Reliance bp Mobility Limited (RBML) – operating under the Jio-bp brand – and Butyl Rubber JV with Reliance Sibur Elastomers Private Limited.

Energy

Reliance Industries has a presence in oil & gas exploration and production, as well as its refining and marketing. It has set up the world’s largest refining complex at a single site in Jamnagar and produces gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.

Retail

Reliance Retail aims to revolutionize the retail business in India in such a way that everyone in the retail ecosystem benefits — especially the millions of small consumers, small shopkeepers, small producers, and their employees. 

It has the largest store network in India with 18,774 stores and a customer base of 293 million (as of Q3FY24). By FY23, it had crossed 780 million footfalls and 1 billion customer transactions.

Digital Services- Jio

Reliance Jio was launched in 2016 and ushered a digital revolution in India. Before Jio’s launch, India ranked 155th in mobile data consumption. In less than a year after its launch, India catapulted to the number one spot, surpassing countries such as the USA and the UK. 

Today, Jio is the largest operator in India and the second largest single-country operator in the world, offering services such as connectivity, fiber, mobile devices, apps, and business solutions. It has partnered with Meta, Google and Microsoft for a host of digital products and services.

New Energy

Reliance Industries has an ambitious target of achieving net-zero carbon status by 2035. It aims to build one of the world’s leading New Energy and New Materials businesses that can bridge the green energy divide in India and globally.

It is investing over ₹75,000 crore (USD 10 billion) in building this business which will be an optimal mix of reliable, clean and affordable energy solutions with hydrogen, wind, solar, fuel cells, and batteries.

Media and Entertainment

India is one of India’s largest media houses with an omni-channel presence. Its content genres include news, entertainment, sports, movies and live entertainment.

Reliance Industries has announced a merger with The Walt Disney Company’s India entities to create an $8.5-billion media behemoth in the entertainment space. The entity will have over 100 channels, exclusive rights to sporting events and a diverse international content library.

Demerger of Jio Financial Services

Reliance Industries announced the demerger of its financial services business on 8th July 2023. The demerged entity was listed as Jio Financial Services on the exchanges.

Jio Financial Services and BlackRock announced an agreement to form a 50:50 joint venture with a USD 150 million investment each to enter the asset management business in India. The joint venture combines Jio Financial Services’ knowledge and resources with BlackRock’s scale and investment expertise to deliver affordable, innovative investment solutions.

Did you know? 

Mukesh Ambani owns the largest mango orchard in Asia! The business tycoon decided to set up a mango orchard in the late nineties when the company was facing the challenge of massive pollution being caused at its Jamnagar refinery. Reliance Industries received several warnings from the Pollution Control Boards to do something about it.

It converted wastelands near the refinery into a green belt. Over 1 lakh mango plants of over 200 species were planted in an area of 600 acres. The orchard was named Dhirubhai Ambani Lakhibag Amrayee. Reliance Industries encourages farmers to visit its orchard and learn from the innovative practices being used there. In fact, it also distributes 1 lakh free saplings to farmers every year.

In Closing

Reliance Industries has a rich and diverse history of doing business in India. It has a presence in various industries, in the domestic as well as global markets. The company has won several accolades for its business practices and is a well-known name. It keeps on pushing boundaries with its innovative practices.