RIL to set up $2.4-3 bn InvIT to monetise retail warehousing assets

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has started the process to set up an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), under which the group can monetise the backend warehousing and logistics assets of its retail business, said industry sources.

Reliance Retail, the company which operates the retail business of the billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, has already registered a trust with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in February this year, they added.

The trust will store the warehouse assets that the group intends to monetise.

According to a media report, the value of the assets that could be transferred to the InvIT is USD 2.4-3 billion (Rs 19,000-25,000 crore). More assets are likely to get added as they become operational, it added.

An e-mail sent to Reliance Retail could not elicit any reply.

Reliance Retail, which is aggressively expanding its presence across the channels, is investing in backend infrastructure such as warehousing, supply chain, logistics infrastructure and facilities.

In its latest December quarter results, Reliance Industries said its business continued to invest in bolstering its infrastructure capabilities by expanding over 2.2 million square feet of warehouse space.

Its total warehouse and fulfilment was at 33.6 million sq ft at the end of December 31, 2022. It has grown three folds from 10.6 million sq ft from Q3/FY20.

It is offering connectivity and IoT (Internet of Things) solutions to improve automation, efficiency and reliability in its warehousing operations.

Moreover, its store count has also gone up 1.5 folds in the last three years and the company was operating a network of 17,225 stores in Q3/FY23. The retail floor area operated by Reliance Retail was 60.2 million square feet.

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) is the holding company of Reliance Retail.

Reliance Retail has been ranked as the fastest-growing retailer in the world and had reported a turnover of Rs 1.99 lakh crore for the financial year 2020-21.

It has also acquired several companies recently to scale its business in consumer goods and FMCG segments.

It has recently relaunched the Campa brand entering into the cola business.

RRVL-backed FMCG firm Reliance Consumer Products also launched its consumer packaged goods brand 'Independence' in December last year.