Saudi Aramco to buy 20% in Reliance oil business in one of the biggest FDI deals in India

Reliance Industries is set to sell a 20 percent stake in its oil and chemical business to Saudi oil giant Aramco in one of the largest ever foreign investment deals in the country, Mukesh Ambani said on Monday, August 12. The deal will have an enterprise value of around Rs 5,32,466 crore.

"Saudi Aramco and Reliance have agreed to form a long-term Partnership in our Oil to Chemicals (O2C) division," said Ambani, speaking at the 42nd Annual General Meeting of RIL.

He announced that Aramco will supply 5,00,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Reliance refineries. The partnership will cover all of RIL's Refining and Petrochemicals assets, including 51 percent of the Petroleum Retail joint venture.

"The deal is subject to due diligence, definitive agreements and regulatory and other approvals," Ambani said. According to the billionaire businessman, RIL's Jamnagar refinery has been processing Saudi oil every single day for 20 years. "Now we have transformed our longstanding relationship of two decades, based on mutual trust, into a Partnership of growth potential for many more years," he said.

"This signifies perfect synergy between the world's largest oil producer and the world's largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex," said Ambani.

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

The managing director of RIL also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud in his speech for laying the "foundation for strategic cooperation between India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".

Reliance New Commerce

Last week, Reliance had announced that British energy giant BP will pay about Rs 7,000 crore for acquiring a 49 percent stake in Reliance Industries' fuel retailing network. This is the third joint venture between Reliance and BP since 2011.

Speaking on other plans of the conglomerate, Ambani also said the company's retail arm will soon unveil Reliance New Commerce, an initiative to digitally connect kirana stores across the country. Ambani said that the trials of Reliance Retail's digital commerce venture have delivered positive results. "This user-friendly digital platform is designed for inventory management, customer relationship management, financial services and other services," he added. According to the RIL Chairman, the initiative is aimed at digitally empowering kirana stores, including those in smaller towns.

Ambani also said he has laid out a roadmap to make the group a zero net-debt company in just 18 months. Ambani's statement came in the wake of rising debt at the group level that reached a level of group Rs 1,54,478 crore in the last financial year.