Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has become the world’s sixth-largest oil company after overtaking BP Plc.
The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate’s market capitalisation stood at approximately $133 billion at Tuesday’s closing and further increased to $138 billion as its shares kept climbing on Wednesday.
According to Bloomberg, Reliance’s shares have witnessed three-fold growth compared to the average pace of India’s benchmark index this year. RIL shares started climbing after Mukesh Ambani announced plans about cutting the company’s net debt to zero in the next 18 months.
With the fresh development, Ambani’s net worth has now touched $56 billion, which makes him Asia’s richest person above Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma, showed Bloomberg Billionaire Index (BBI) data.
While RIL’s market capitalisation briefly surpassed BP for the first time at the end of October, it has now regained the lead against the British company.
Next up, RIL is looking to narrow down its gap with PetroChina Company, which is Asia’s biggest oil firm in terms of market capitalisation. It is also behind Saudi Aramco and Exxon Mobil Corporation, which has a market value of $290 billion.
RIL has increased its market cap by 35 per cent this year compared to BP Plc’s 1.2 per cent gain. At a time when oil companies around the world are struggling to grow due to increased volatility, RIL’s credentials have been lauded by market watchers and experts.
Though Reliance earns two-thirds of its revenue from the energy business, Ambani’s conglomerate has also made significant investments in telecom and digital services. Ambani has also expanded the company’s retail business to take on the likes of Amazon and Walmart Inc.