Reliance Group

The company was founded by the legendary Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2002), is India's largest private sector enterprise, with businesses in the energy and materials value chain. Group's annual revenues are in excess of US$ 34 billion. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest private sector company in India.

Backward vertical integration has been the cornerstone of the evolution and growth of Reliance. Starting with textiles in the late seventies, Reliance pursued a strategy of backward vertical integration - in polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics, petrochemicals, petroleum refining and oil and gas exploration and production - to be fully integrated along the materials and energy value chain.

The Group's activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics and chemicals), textiles and retail.

Reliance enjoys global leadership in its businesses, being the largest polyester yarn and fibre producer in the world and among the top five to ten producers in the world in major petrochemical products.

The Group exports products in excess of US$ 20 billion to 108 countries in the world. Major Group Companies are Reliance Industries Limited (including main subsidiaries Reliance Petroleum Limited and Reliance Retail Limited) and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, a group of Indian companies headed by Anil Ambani, including:
- Reliance Capital
- Reliance Communications
- Reliance Entertainment
- Reliance Energy
- Reliance Power

Reliance Industries Limited (NSE: RELIANCE) is India's largest private sector conglomerate (and second largest overall) with an annual turnover of US$ 35.9 billion and profit of US$ 4.85 billion for the fiscal year ending in March 2008 making it one of India's private sector Fortune Global 500 companies, being ranked at 206th position (2008). [1] It was founded by the Indian industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani in 1966.

Though the company's oil-related operations forms the core of its business, it has diversified its operations in recent years. After severe differences between the founder's two sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, the group was divided between them in 2006. In September 2008, Reliance Industries was the only Indian firm featured in the Forbes's list of "world's 100 most respected companies". It is headed by Mukesh Ambani, son of late Dhirubhai Ambani. Reliance Industries Limited has a wide range of products from petroleum products, petrochemicals, to garments (under the brand name of Vimal), Reliance Retail has entered into the fresh foods market as Reliance Fresh and launched a new chain called Delight Reliance Retail and NOVA Chemicals have signed a letter of intent to make energy-efficient structures.

Once-inseparable brothers, Mukesh (right) and Anil (left) Ambani fought publicly and bitterly for months over control of Reliance Group. The company was founded by their late father and is now one of India's largest companies, with revenue equal to 2.6% of the country's gross domestic product. Rumor was that Mukesh was trying to tighten control over group's ambitious telecom venture. In mid-June, their mother Kokilaben brokered peace: Mukesh will now run Reliance Industries ($21 billion market cap) and IPCL ($1 billion) while Anil will get Reliance Energy ($2.8 billion), Reliance Capital ($1 billion), Reliance Infocomm (est. $3 billion) and reportedly more than $1billion in cash.

Key Dates
1948: Gujarat native Dhirubhai H. Ambani, aged 16, travels to Aden and begins working as a clerk at a service station.
1958: Ambani returns to India and sets up an import-export business, eventually focusing on the textile market, which becomes Reliance Textiles.
1966: Reliance launches textile manufacturing, building its first factory.
1977: Reliance goes public in one of India's first and largest public offerings.
1981: The company begins construction of a polyester filament yarn facility in Patalganga.
1986: After Ambani suffers a stroke, sons Mukesh and Anil take over day-to-day direction of the company; the company launches its first petrochemicals production as part of a vertical integration strategy.
1991: Reliance Refineries Ltd. is established in preparation for further vertical integration.
1993: Reliance Refineries goes public and changes its name to Reliance Petroleum.
1997: Reliance Petroleum launches construction of India's largest oil refinery at Jamnagar.
1999: Reliance wins a bid for 12 exploration blocks auctioned off by the Indian government.
2002: Reliance locates the largest Indian natural gas field in decades; Dhirubhai Ambani dies at age 69; Reliance Petroleum is merged into Reliance Industries.
2004: Reliance discovers a new natural gas field in the Bay of Bengal; the company acquires Germany's Trevira, becoming the world's leading manufacturer of polyester.
2006: Reliance Industries is broken up between the Ambani brothers.

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