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India’s Reliance gets Rs2,403 billion Saudi investment

By Sabir Shah
August 14, 2019

LAHORE: In what could easily be described as a startling revelation for the corporate world and its players involved in mergers and acquisitions, the Saudi Aramco has struck a $15 billion (Pak Rs 2,403 billion) accord with India's $75 billion Reliance Industries, owned by richest Asian tycoon and the 13th richest person in the world, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, to acquire a 20 per cent share in the biggest oil refinery on the planet.

As part of the deal, Messrs Reliance Industries have agreed to purchase 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Saudi Aramco, the "Business Insider" has reported. Saudi Aramco will now be having a stake in Reliance Group's Jamnagar Refinery, which can process an unmatched 1.2 million barrels of crude oil daily.

Renowned American media house "Bloomberg" has reported: "The Saudi oil titan has been investing heavily in refineries as it looks to double its daily processing capacity to as much as 10 million barrels of crude oil by 2030. Reliance has been seeking to sell assets including cell phone towers and oil and gas fields to lower its debt."

The "Bloomberg" has calculated this debt at $32 billion!

The "Business Insider," an American financial and business news website published by Insider Inc. It operates international editions in the UK, Australia, China, Germany, France, South Africa, India, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Northern Europe, Poland, Spain and Singapore, has quoted the 62-year old Mukesh Ambani as saying: "I am truly delighted to welcome Saudi Aramco, one of the largest business enterprises in the world, as a potential investor in our Oil to Chemicals division. We have a long-standing crude oil relationship with Saudi Aramco and we would be happy to see this further strengthened with this investment. Reliance has agreed to purchase 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Saudi Aramco as part of the deal. Saudi Aramco's interest is a strong endorsement of the quality of our assets and operations as well as of the potential of India."

It is imperative to note that the Mumbai-based Reliance Industries Limited owns businesses across India, and is engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications.

Reliance is the largest company in India as measured by revenue after recently surpassing the government-controlled Indian Oil It is the largest publicly-traded Indian company by Market Capitalization.

Ranked 148th on the "Fortune Global 500" list of the world's biggest corporations as of 2018, Messrs Reliance continues to be India’s largest exporter, accounting for 8 per cent of country's total merchandise exports with a value of Indian Rs 1477.55 billion and access to markets in 108 countries

Also responsible for almost 5 per cent of the government of India's total revenues from customs and excise duty. It is also the highest income tax payer in the private sector in India, Reliance's 2019 revenues are resting at Indian Rs 6228.09 billion (US$90 billion), its Net Income stands at Indian Rs 395.88 billion (US$5.7 billion), its assets are worth 1,00,24.06 billion (US$140 billion), and this 46-year old conglomerate is served by 194,056 employees.

Born in Yemen, Mukesh Ambani holds a 47.35 per cent stake in Reliance Group and is serving as its Chairman. The Ambanis live in "Antilia," a private 27-storey building in Mumbai valued at US $1 billion that was the most expensive residence in the world at the time it was built.

The building i requires a staff of 600 for maintenance, and includes three helipads, houses a 160 car garage, private movie theater, swimming pool, and fitness center. In 2007 Ambani gifted his wife a $60 million dollar Airbus A319 for her 44th birthday. The airbus, which has a capacity of 180 passengers, has been custom-fitted to include a living room, bedroom, satellite television, WiFi, sky bar, Jacuzzi, and an office.

(References: The NDTV, the Economic Times, the Huffington Post, eminent website Rediff.com, the CNN Money, the Los Angeles Times, the Hindu and the Financial Express etc)

Meanwhile, the Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, and according to accounts seen by Bloomberg News, the most profitable company in the world.

Saudi Aramco has both the world's second-largest proven crude oil reserves of more than 270 million barrels, and has the second-largest daily oil production on Earth.

(References: Saudi Aramco website, U.S. Energy Information Administration, OPEC, the Financial Times and the Arab News etc)

On June 12, 2019, Aramco had reported its net income at $111.1 billion in 2018 compared to $75.9 billion in 2017, this with total revenues at $355.9 billion in 2018.

By first half of 2019, Aramco reported a net income of $46.9 billion, the "Reuters" News Agency had reported.