Advertisement

2020: The year of Mukesh Ambani

Here’s How Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries Fared in 2020

2020: The year of Mukesh Ambani
(Facebook)
SHARES

As we head into 2021, it’s clear that 2020 has been a forgettable year for most. However, not everyone has been so unlucky during the pandemic. For example, chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, one of the richest people globally, had a fairly decent 2020, particularly Reliance Industries and its subsidiaries like Jio Platforms. 

Here are some of the major achievements of the Mumbai-based billionaire that were noteworthy this year. 

Expansion of Jio Platforms with major foreign investments

In April this year, Facebook announced an investment of ₹43,573.62 crores (USD 5.7 billion) for a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms. This was followed by another investment by fellow Silicon Valley juggernaut Google, which invested ₹33,737 crores ($4.5 billion) for a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms.  

Market capitalisation reaching a new milestone

Also noteworthy is that on June 22, 2020, Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to surpass $150 billion in market capitalisation which touched ₹11,43,667 crores on the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange). Reliance Industries is ranked 96th on the Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations. 

Getting to zero debt

The company had a net debt of ₹1,61,035 crores as of March 31, 2020. However, Reliance Industries managed to raise ₹2,12,809 crores in just three months of 2020, including investments by several other companies apart from Google and Facebook. 

“Reliance is now truly a zero net debt company, well ahead of my goal of March 2021. It has an extremely strong Balance Sheet that will support growth plans for its three hyper-growth engines — Jio, retail and oil-to-chemical (O2C)”, Ambani said at the Reliance Industries annual general meeting in July. 

Expansion of JioFiber broadband

Though Jio has been on the rise since its arrival in late 2015 as a cellular network, the platform has been completely revamped with the inclusion of new services, prominent among them being JioFiber which aims to dismantle local cable operators with cost-effective plans for metropolitan and rural areas. Recent TRAI data shows that the JioFiber broadband service added more than 3 lakh new customers in September 2020 alone. 

Mumbai Indians winning the Indian Premier League 2020

Mumbai Indians clinched their fifth IPL this year in circumstances unlike any other. The team showed its dominance throughout the tournament, barring a few hiccups. The tournament was held in a biosecure bubble in the United Arab Emirates across three stadiums due to COVID-19 concerns while no spectators were allowed. 

Co-owner Nita Ambani was present during the tournament, including the final, to cheer on the men in blue and gold. They comfortably defeated the Delhi Capitals by 5 wickets with 8 balls to spare.

Blessed with a grandchild

Nita and Mukesh Ambani became grandparents this month, as Akash and Shloka Advani welcomed a baby boy to the family. This was perhaps the best way to cap off a lucrative year for the Ambani family.  

What’s ahead for Reliance Industries?

On multiple occasions, Mukesh Ambani has said that India will soon switch on 5G services. The company is hopeful of enabling 5G signals on Jio networks by the second half of 2021. It seems likely that 2021 may end up being an even better year Reliance Industries than 2020. 

RELATED TOPICS
Advertisement
MumbaiLive would like to send you latest news updates