After Jio Platforms raised Rs 1.52 lakh crore from 13 different investors, Reliance Industries’ other consumer facing business, Reliance Retail, is now receiving ‘strong interest’ from strategic and financial investors, Mukesh Ambani said during the company’s 43rd Annual General Meeting.
“Today the world recognises our hyper-growth inclusive model. We have received strong interest from strategic and financial investors in Reliance Retail. We will induct global partners and investors in Reliance Retail in the next few quarters. I will keep you informed about the progress of Reliance Retail, which is at the doorsteps of continued exponential,” Ambani said while addressing shareholders at the AGM on Wednesday.
Apart from Reliance’s digital business, the company has also been focusing on growing its retail business, especially with the launch of JioMart, its ‘new commerce’ venture. The retail business includes its supermarket format Reliance Fresh, its fashion and apparel stores Reliance Trends, Reliance Footwear, Reliance Jewellery and Reliance Digital.
The company has already begun the beta version of JioMart, which Ambani said is currently operational in 200 cities and is seeing over 2,50,000 orders a day.
Outlining the future plans for JioMart, Mukesh Ambani announced that it will soon be expanded to cover electronics, fashion, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
“JioMart is obsessed with providing convenience and a superior shopping experience to consumers. In addition to grocery, we will expand JioMart to cover electronics, fashion, pharmaceutical and healthcare in the days ahead. In the coming years, we will cover many more cities, serve many more customers across India, and expand to many more categories,” he said.
“We will also strengthen collaborations with more entrepreneurs, brands and businesses to boost India’s consumption,” he added.
Ambani also said that Reliance Retail is currently India’s largest retail business and the only Indian retailer to feature in the top 100 global retailers.
The company clocked revenues of Rs 162,936 crore and an Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of Rs 9,654 crore last year.
Ambani also claimed that more than two-thirds of Reliance Retail’s nearly 12,000 stores are operated in Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV towns.
This announcement from Ambani also comes at a time when the company is in advanced talks with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group to acquire its retail business, and its lifestyle business, which include Big Bazaar, Fashion Big Bazaar, Food Hall, Central, HomeTown, among others.
If this deal goes through, Reliance Retail will add another 1,500 stores to its business. Future Retail has over 1,500 stores across 437 cities in India.
Since Facebook announced a deal with Jio Platforms in April, the company has raised over Rs 1.5 lakh crore from 13 different investors, including massive tech majors such as Google, Facebook, Qualcomm, Intel, among others.