Reliance outlines growth strategy across Jio, O2C and new energy businesses after Q1
Mumbai, July 19
Reliance Industries' management during the company's post-earnings analyst call has outlined its long-term growth strategy across its telecom, oil-to-chemicals and new energy businesses, highlighting expanding digital services, resilient refining operations amid geopolitical disruptions, and steady execution of its clean energy projects.
On the telecom business, Reliance Jio said digital services continued to grow faster than its core connectivity business, supported by cloud, content, Internet of Things (IoT) and managed services.
"The digital services growth is 20% year-on-year, which outpaces the connectivity growth... We have been able to monetise services across content, cloud, IoT and managed services," Jio Head of Strategy Anshuman Thakur said.
Thakur said there remains significant room for further monetisation of digital services.
"There is scope for far more monetisation of the digital services... normally tech services and products would have much higher margins than connectivity," he said while responding to analysts' questions.
He added that Jio's fixed wireless access business continues to gain traction, with AirFiber accounting for nearly half of the company's fixed broadband subscriber base.
On the O2C business, Reliance said its ability to quickly diversify crude sourcing and optimise exports helped it navigate supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.
"The challenge has been to get the crude because finally we were running the refinery at almost full capacity... getting crude from Latin America, getting crude from the US, Canada, Africa, Russia," Reliance Industries Chief Financial Officer V Srikanth said.
The company also highlighted the advantage of its integrated operations during the volatile quarter.
"We were agile and we could diversify our basket... we could also source some AG crudes gainfully," Srinivas Tuttagunta, Chief Operating Officer - Refining & Marketing, said, adding that Reliance maintained refinery utilisation at around 96-97 per cent despite the disruptions.
On the new energy business, the company said execution across its renewable energy ecosystem remains on track.
"This last quarter has been, from our perspective, about the disciplined execution at scale... Across our various projects, renewable generation projects, manufacturing, and green fuels, multiple programs are progressing at rapid speed and in parallel," Reliance's Senior Vice President for New Energy, Karan Suri, said.
He said Reliance expects to begin supplying power from its Kutch renewable energy projects this year as transmission infrastructure becomes ready, while solar manufacturing and battery production capacity continue to ramp up at the company's Jamnagar complex.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Interesting how they managed crude sourcing during the Middle East conflict. Getting oil from US, Canada, Latin America, Russia shows their supply chain agility. Still, with global volatility, I worry about how this affects fuel prices for us common people. 😕
Reliance's new energy push is promising for India's green goals. Kutch solar projects supplying power this year? That's what we need - renewable energy at scale. Hope they also focus on affordability for consumers rather than just industrial profits. Our electricity bills are sky-high these days.
Jio's digital services monetisation potential is huge. Cloud, IoT, managed services - these are high-margin businesses globally. But I worry about data privacy and security. With so much personal data flowing through Jio platforms, we need stronger regulations. Just my two paise. 🤔
Impressive that Reliance achieved 96-97% refinery capacity despite supply disruptions from the Middle East conflict. Their ability to diversify crude sources is commendable. But as an Indian consumer, I wish they'd pass some of that efficiency benefit to us - petrol and diesel prices are killing our budgets. 😤
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