RIL: Delivering Top Performance

Trustworthy leadership, financial returns, work culture and corporate social responsibility -- these are the four parameters on which Reliance Industries (RIL) scored high. As a result, RIL has bounced back to occupy the top position in BW Businessworld’s Most Respected Companies (MRC) list for 2022. It was ranked seventh in 2020 and sixth in MRC list 2021.

Leading the Pack
The numbers speak for themselves. RIL is India’s largest and most profitable private sector company. It is not just India’s largest company by market capitalisation (Rs 17,81,841 crore), by revenue (Rs 7,92,756 crore), and by profitability (Rs 67,845 crore). It is also one of the largest contributors to India’s exports (Rs 2,54,970 crore), job creation (2,32,822 new jobs created during the year), and CSR spends (Rs 1,186 crore).

During FY 2021-22, Reliance was able to overcome the pandemic-led difficulties to post stellar performance operationally as well as financially, with strong contribution from all its businesses. Both its consumer businesses, Retail and Digital Services, recorded highest ever revenues and EBITDA. The E&P business also posted significantly higher numbers with strong volume growth and improved realisations, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, RIL said. RIL posted a record EBITDA of Rs 1,25,687 crore on a consolidated basis for FY2021-22, which was up 28.8 per cent from the previous year. The consolidated net profit clocked a new record of Rs 67,845 crore.

Trustworthy leadership at the top coupled with smart financial returns catapulted RIL to the top in FY22. Not just online, the RIL’s retail business continued to expand offline as well. It added nearly 8 million sq ft of retail space taking its total retail space to over 41.6 million sq ft. Besides, the business added 11.1 million sq ft of warehousing space during the year. Importantly, the retail business created more than 1,50,000 jobs through the year. It posted a revenue of Rs 1,99,749 crore, up nearly 27 per cent. The digital business expanded as well. Jio Fiber became the number one fibre-to-home provider in India with over 5 million connected homes. The digital business clocked a revenue of Rs 1,00,161 crore, up 11 per cent.

CSR & ESG Push
For the financial year 2021-22, RIL spent Rs 1,186 crore towards community development. Overall, the company created over 2.32 lakh new jobs. "Reliance played a leading role in caring for India and Indians in the last couple of years of the pandemic. We now aim to care for the Planet as we embark on our most exciting transformation – the Green Transformation," said Ambani in his shareholder address.

Acknowledging the real threat of climate change, Reliance has set itself an ambitious goal of achieving Net Carbon Zero status by 2035, and embarked on a 15-year plan to build itself up as one of the world's leading new energy and new materials conglomerate. Reliance has committed to invest Rs 75,000 crore towards building new energy capabilities over next three years.

With a comprehensive development approach, Reliance Foundation (RF), the CSR arm of RIL, positively touches the lives of millions every year, making it one of the largest corporate philanthropies in India and the world, the company said. Under its rural transformation initiative, RF has empowered over 50,600 villages while addressing all the critical development indicators like rural livelihoods, water, food and nutrition, women’s empowerment and access to knowledge resources.