Reliance Industries has turned net debt free by raising Rs 168,818 crore in two months through the country’s largest ever rights issue and series of stake sale deals in its arm Jio Platforms, delivering on a promise given to shareholders in August last year.

While India was under a lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic, the conglomerate raised Rs 53,124.20 crore by offering shares to existing shareholders, and another Rs 115,693.95 crore through sale of stake in Jio Platforms through 11 deals.
Chairman Mukesh Ambani said, “I have fulfilled my promise to the shareholders by making Reliance net debt-free much before our original schedule of 31st March 2021.”
He assured shareholders that in its ‘golden decade,’ RIL will set even more ambitious growth goals and achieve them.

Back in 2017, Ambani had said that the energy-to-telecom conglomerate was on the verge of a golden decade where it would yield the returns of its largest ever capacity expansion in its petrochemical business and its investment in Jio. With these investments, the company’s net-debt was at Rs 161,035 crore, as on March 31, and the funds raised in the last 58 days exceeded it. Along with the stake sale to BP in the petro-retail joint venture, the total fund raise is in excess of Rs 1.75 lakh crore.

RIL announced the eleventh investment in Jio Platforms on Thursday as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought 2.32% stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 11,367 crore.
PIF joins international investors like Abu Dhabi’s two largest sovereign investment arms — Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala, private equity firms Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, TPG, L Catterton. Social media major acquired the biggest share among investors by picking up 9.99% for nearly Rs 44,000 crore.All these investors together hold 24.70% stake in Jio Platforms now.

Bernstein said in a report on June 10 that the RIL-FB partnership could emerge as a core platform for India's digital economy and as more consumers and small businesses move online, it could unlock a digital market worth $ 2 trillion.