Fortune India Magazine - January 2020

In this issue

Fortune India’s January issue focusses on that one big developmentin the world of business and economy which we like to call the ‘Move of the Year’. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Ambani’s vision forRIL was clearly the biggest move in the world of Indian business in 2019. To better understand every detail of the mega Ambani game plan, deputy editor T. Surendar met several top executives at RIL across businesses, spoke to analysts, and also understood from other business leaders what the ramifications of the new Reliance could be. Mukesh Ambani himself articulated his plan to Fortune India, saying: “This is the age of disruption and there is no room for linear and static growth models.” Hence, pivoting RIL is now Ambani’s newest mission, one that will see him reshaping the megacorp, getting into new corporate structures, being more aggressive on acquisitions, and ensuring RIL is debt free. And given Ambani’s dexterity on the execution side, Team Reliance is now fully aligned to this new vision. Call it Reliance Redux, for the new business environment. RIL is exploring new structures to ensure the highest value is unlocked from its various businesses—from telecom to digital to retail—even while it eases the pressure on the capital expenditure side, having reached the end of the expenditure cycle in most part. Uncharacteristically, RIL has also
opened itself up to joint ventures (in areas like oil and entertainment), and is thinking of leveraging its access to customers for possible new businesses like education, agriculture, health, and finance. Alongside, the big bet on digital commerce is also going to play out, where the company is expected to integrate consumers, producers, and merchants. Analysts are already calling it a project that may rival giants like Amazon. Tracking how the new Reliance takes shape will, no doubt, be fascinating, and Fortune India will be on the ball on that front.. So keep reading and Happy New Year!