Reliance Industries (RIL), India's largest private sector company, is finalising a new alliance with engineering and project management partner Bechtel Corporation, as it prepares to enter the power sector.
Two weeks ago, RIL chief Mukesh Ambani instructed his senior executives to get ready for production by October, almost two-three months ahead of the earlier planned schedule, as the refinery at Jamnagar, the East-West pipeline and facilities at KG basin are nearing completion, said sources. RIL is developing the largest gas find in the world in KG basin, with estimated gas reserves of 11.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
At 1437 hours, RIL commanded a market value of Rs 2,44,232 crore (Rs 2442.32 billion) -- higher than ONGC's Rs 2,40,922 crore (Rs 2,409.22 billion) which slipped to second place in the list of market valuation chart.
Morgan Stanley, the global financial services company, says India's largest private sector company (by market value) might lose 11 per cent of its earnings per share in 2014-15 earnings estimates if gas prices remain at $4.2 a unit.
He also described Moily as Mukesh Ambani's agent.
Oil Ministry officials insisted that Defence Ministry cannot withdraw the clearance after 12 years of exploration.
Reliance Industries, India's most valued company, and state-run gas firm GAIL India have identified 10 countries including Qatar, Australia and Russia for setting up a multi-billion-dollar petrochemical plant.
The total capacity of gas-based stations in India is 18,830 MW of which 15,529 MW is fed with gas from RIL.
Equity mutual funds (MFs) deployed maximum in shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) in June at Rs 2,177 crore, followed by Maruti Suzuki (Rs 2,045 crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,310 crore). Shares of both RIL and Bharti Airtel have been turbulent this month. On July 1, shares of RIL crashed over 7 per cent, following the government imposing windfall taxes on domestic crude oil production and fuel exports.
RIL is understood to be the first major Indian enterprise to participate directly in a global oil futures market, emphasising the trend of continued growth in Asian oil production.
Norway-based Aker Solutions, appointed by ONGC to explore the possibility of sharing RIL's infrastructural facilities on the East Coast, is expected to submit its final report next month, sources close to the development said.
RIL should wait-and-watch before investing in telecom sector.
The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons wants the government to get a share of the $0.135 per million British thermal units marketing margin RIL charges over and above the government approved gas price of $4.205, sources privy to the development said.
Commenting on the EGoM decision regarding supply of KG gas to upcoming power projects, RIL counsel Harish Salve said, "Government has no right to allocate gas." He clarified that his client was opposed to this stand of the government.
RIL has proposed to charge the government- fixed rate for natural gas on a gross calorific value (GCV) basis, instead of net calorific value (NCV).
The Cabinet on Thursday decided to allow Reliance Industries to almost double the price of natural gas from April provided the firm gave a bank guarantee to cover its liability if gas-hoarding charges are proved.
The purchase is through RIL's wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Private Limited, from Oberoi Hotels Private Limited and certain other promoters of EIH Limited, RIL said in a statement.
The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has approved Reliance Industries' 4.33 dollars per mBtu price of gas from KG-D6 fields, saying it was in line with industry practices.
Until now, the compensation for non-executive directors was just Rs 21 lakh.
Reliance had committed to drill 22 wells in the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 fields or D1, the largest of 18 gas discoveries in the block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block in the Bay of Bengal, by April 2011 to produce 53.4 million standard cubic meters of gas per day (mscmd).
NTPC, India's largest thermal power operator, said it will stay away from the ongoing Reliance Industries and Reliance Natural Resources case in the Bombay high court over the supply of KG Basin gas.
RIL also reported measures taken to check falling output in the KG-D6 field.
RIL had in February last year submitted a revised field development plan for the MA oilfield, which has been producing crude oil since September 2008.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp is in talks to hire Reliance Industries' unutilised production facilities on the east to quickly bring to production its gas finds in the Krishna Godavari basin.
Sources close to the development said RIL, which was planning two adjacent economic zones in the coastal district of Raigarh in Maharashtra, is looking to set up three special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to develop the various components of the project.
Sebi was probing a complaint by S Gurumurthy of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, alleging that RIL and its investors lost at least Rs 2,700 crore.
Equity benchmarks began the week on a downbeat note on Monday, weighed by heavy selling in market heavyweight Reliance Industries and persisting weakness in global bourses. The rupee plunged to its lifetime low against the US dollar amid unabated foreign fund outflows, underscoring the risk-off sentiment prevailing globally as central banks embark on policy tightening to tame soaring inflation. Slipping for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex shed 364.91 points or 0.67 per cent to close at 54,470.67.
While a new formula for pricing of all domestically produced natural gas was notified on January 10 and published in Gazettee on January 17, the Election Commission last month asked the government to defer its implementation till general elections are completed.
The 50-share NSE Nifty settled up 28.15 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 10,326.90 after shuttling between 10,358.70 and 10,315.05.
Could get $8.4 per mmBtu from April 2014 by furnishing bank guarantee that would be encashed if D1, D3 gas hoarding proved
The Standard Chartered Bank has struck an on-shore foreign currency option transaction with Reliance Industries Ltd for $30 million, allowing RIL to hedge its dollar exposure.
State-run banking giant SBI has said it temporarily exceeded RBI-prescribed credit exposure limit for the fourth year in a row in 2011-12 with regard to loans given to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL).
Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 gas field has seen output drop to 29 million units a day, against a planned 80 million units, causing acute shortage in power generation, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said on Tuesday.
Justice Markandey Katju recused himself from the matter saying his wife held shares of Reliance Industries.
It is also understood that scope of this audit will far exceed the normal course of audit by CAG and the prime objective may be to detect fraud, if any, by RIL allegedly in collusion with oil regulator DGH and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Jethmalani described the gas row between the Ambani brothers as a saga where the government has kept the public interest at the farthest and huge wealth has been put in private pockets.
The RIL board had last month approved 1:1 issuance of bonus shares after a 12-year hiatus. The last time RIL announced a bonus issue was in October 1997.
RIL shares attracted good buying support in a bullish market and closed up by 4.80 per cent at Rs 754.05 a piece on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The company faced severe demand contraction in its principal market segments due to the global financial crisis. Trevira manufactures high-value branded polyester fibers and filament yarns for the automotive industries, home textiles as well as for technical applications.
