From Rs 70 Crore To Rs 58026 Crore In 25 Years

Dhirubhai Ambani had led Reliance Industries from a paltry Rs 70 crore group in 1976-77 to India's largest private corporate giant with sales of Rs 58,026 crore today.

The net profit of the group soared from Rs 1.28 crore in 1976-77 to Rs 4,604 crore in 2001-02. Total assets jumped manifold from Rs 33 crore in 1976-77 to Rs 54,912 crore.

The markets cheered the Reliance group's bold forays and the group's market cap increased from Rs 78 crore in 1979-80 to Rs 43,761 crore today. And, this phoenix-like rise was led by the group flagship -- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Reliance Petroleum, which was established in 1993, only started commercial production in June 2000.

RIL has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 26 per cent in the last 25 years. Its sales income increased at a CAGR of 26.61 per cent from Rs 68.72 crore in 1976-77 to Rs 28,008 crore in 2001-02. Net profit soared over 2200 times or at a CAGR of 36.05 per cent from Rs 1.28 crore to Rs 2,814 crore.

RIL's total assets shot up from Rs 32.89 crore in 1976-77 to Rs 29,875 crore in 2000-01. Its net worth moved up from Rs 9.54 crore to Rs 14,765 crore in this period.

From a tiny market capitalisation of Rs 78 crore in 1979-80, RIL's market cap jumped to Rs 29,870 crore as of yesterday.

The company has so far paid Rs 28,500 crore to the national exchequer by way of direct and indirect taxes. RIL employs around 16,000 people and is today the 4th largest producer of polyester filament yarn and the 5th largest producer of polyester staple fibre in the world.

The company is the 3rd largest player in paraxylene, 6th largest in purified terephthalic acid and polypropylene, and the 10th largest producer of polyethylene in the world.

Shareholders have reason to cheer, too. RIL has had a history of uninterrupted dividends for the last 22 years. The dividend record goes from 15 per cent in 1976-77 to 42.50 per cent in 2000-01.

The dividend paid in 2000-01 has been on the higher equity capital bloated by the bonus and rights issues made between 1985-1997 period. RIL's equity capital, in fact, rose to Rs 1,054 crore in 2001-02 from Rs 5.95 crore in 1976-77.

Reliance Petroleum, the second largest company in the group, has been merged with RIL. The merger is, however, still awaiting regulatory approvals. Established in 1993, RPL went public in September 1993 with an issue of triple-option convertible debentures, amounting to Rs 2,172 crore. The company commenced commercial production in 2000-01 and that year it became the largest private sector company in India with sales of Rs 30,963 crore. The net profit in 2000-01 was placed at Rs 1,464 crore.

During the year ended March 2002, the company's sales were at Rs 33,117 crore and net profit of Rs 1,674 crore.

Reliance Capital is the third largest company in the group. Its total revenues from financial operations grew from a modest Rs 6 crore in 1990-91 to Rs 542 crore in 2001-02. Its net profit increased from Rs 4 crore in 1990-91 to Rs 101 crore in 2001-02. Reliance Infrastructure, a little known group company, has sales of Rs 80.29 crore and a net profit of Rs 14.90 crore as on March 31, 2002.