Incredible Journey Reliance Industries 1000 Startup India Biggest Congress
Reliance Industries is today the largest company in India, whose name is known not only in the country but all over the world. Under the leadership of Mukesh Ambani, this company has become number one in big sectors like oil, retail and telecom. But do you know that it started with just 1000 rupees. At the same time, Reliance’s market cap is more than Rs 19.19 lakh crore and about 3.5 lakh people are associated with this company.
Recently, with the results of the first quarter of FY 2025-26, RIL has also released a list, stating that it has more than 300 companies. This list includes subsidiary companies of Reliance Group, Joint Ventures and Associate Firms. Come, let us tell you the story of that big journey, which started with Dhirubhai Ambani’s dreams and which changed the picture of the whole country, not just a company.
Dream started from a small village
Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 28 December 1932 in Chorwad village in Junagadh district of Gujarat. Due to poverty, he left high school studies and started selling pakoras but his dream was big. He never gave up. A job of Rs 300 a month in the city of Aden, Yemen, where he worked as a gas station attendant. 8 years later, in 1958, he returned to India with a small capital of 500 rupees and started a textile trading company with his cousin Champalal Damani. It was from here that Reliance’s foundation was laid in 1960.
Today, there are a total of 335 companies under Reliance Industries Limited, including 218 subsidiary, 101 joint ventures and 16 associated companies. Apart from this, large units also have major units like O2C (Oil to Chemicals), Retail and Digital Services.
Travel from textile to oil and telecom
According to a news by News18, Reliance Textiles Engineers Private Limited was established in 1966 with a capital of Rs 1000. The company set up its first textile factory in Naroda, Gujarat. In 1973, the company’s name changed to Reliance Textiles Industries Limited. In 1975, the company further enhanced the textile business with the “Vimal” brand. In 1977, Reliance launched Public Offering (IPO) for the first time, which brought the company to new heights.
In 1980, Reliance stepped into the polyester yarn business and set up a plant in Patalganga, Maharashtra. The company’s name was changed in 1985 and it became Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). After this, the company expanded rapidly in areas like petroleum, petrochemicals, retail and telecom. Today Reliance is the country’s largest oil refining, petrochemicals and digital service company.
RIL’s main subsidiary, joint venture and associated companies
| Subsidiary | Joint venture | Associated companies |
|---|---|---|
| Reliance Retail Limited | Alok Industries International | Big Tree Entertainment Lanka |
| Jio Infocomm Limited | Live content distribution | Big Tree Entertainment Private |
| Reliance Ethane Holding | Brooke Brothers India | Reliance-Hindustan Unilever |
| Reliance Jio Infocom UK | Reliance-BP Mobility | Jio-Vodafone Idea |
| Reliance Global Energy Services | Jio Satellite Communications | Reliance-Aditya Birla |
| Reliance Petroleum Limited | Reliance-Nokia Networks | Jio-Tata Motors |
| Reliance Industrial Investments | Jio-Gogugal Partnership | Reliance-ITC Partnership |
| Reliance Synergy Limited | Reliance-Microsoft Cloud | Live-bajaj auto |
| Reliance Jio Digital Services | Jio-Facebook Connect | Reliance-Maruti Suzuki |
| Reliance Retail Ventures | Reliance-Sessar Oil | Jio-Mahindra & Mahindra |
| Reliance Power Limited | Jio-Inteell Collabing | Reliance-Hirco Realty |
| Reliance Gas Transportation | Reliance-Kalcomm Tech | Jio-DLF Projects |
| Reliance Big Television | Jio-aircraft joint venture | Reliance-Godrej |
| Reliance Digital Commerce | Reliance-Hitachi Energy | Geo-lunde tech |
| Reliance Healthcare | Jio-HP Partnership | Reliance-Birla Sun Life |
Digital revolution starts with Reliance Jio
The launch of Reliance Jio in 2016 completely changed the telecom sector of India. Jio entered the market with free data and calls offers and soon became the largest telecom operator in the country. Today Jio has more than 47.8 crore users. The company brought 4G services to every corner and is now working on 5G network. India has become the world’s largest mobile data consumer due to Jio.
In 2020, Jio earned huge investment from veterans like Google and Facebook. Google invested Rs 33,737 crore for 7.7% stake in Jio. Jio and Google are planning to bring cheap 5G smartphones together, which will further strengthen the dream of Digital India.
Reliance Industries
Reliance has the country’s largest retail network
Reliance Retail is today the largest retail network in India, with 18,836 stores, which are spread over more than 6,600 cities and towns. Brands like Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends have made their strong presence across the country. The company’s registered customer base is more than 30 crores. Reliance Retail plans to double its sales in the next 3-4 years.
Oil and gas are the backbone of Reliance
Reliance’s Oil-to-Chemical (O2C) is the backbone of the business company. In the September 2024 quarters, this segment earned a revenue of Rs 1,55,580 crore. The company’s Jamnagar refinery is one of the largest refineries in the world. In addition, Reliance discovered India’s largest gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin, which made the company a pioneer in the oil and gas sector.
Reliance Industries has recently announced the New Commerce platform, which aims to empower small traders in the digital age. The company planned to launch “Hanuman AI” in February 2024 with India GPT Group, which will work in 11 local languages. Apart from this, in March 2024, Reliance along with Disney launched a new OTT platform. Recently, Reliance Jio partnered with Allen Musk’s spacex, under which Starlink’s satellite internet service will be available in India.
Reliance is India’s largest exporter company
Reliance is India’s largest exporter company, which provides 8% of the country’s total exports. The company contributes 5% to the income from the Government of India and the income from excise duty. Reliance is ranked 86th in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2024 and has been part of this list for the last 21 years. At the same time, Reliance became the first Indian company in 2019 to cross an valuation of Rs 9 lakh crore.