News Analysis India

Tag: Reliance

  • Reliance-linked Qwik Supply gave Rs 385 cr to BJP, Rs 25 cr to Shiv Sena

    New Delhi: Qwik Supply Chain Private Ltd, a little-known company with a registered address at Navi Mumbai’s Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and having links to Reliance Industries, gave Rs 395 crore to the BJP and Rs 25 crore to the Shiv Sena, data uploaded by the Election Commission showed Thursday.

    Qwik Supply, the third largest donor to political parities using electoral bonds, bought Rs 410 crore bonds between 2021-22 and 2023-24, and gave all but Rs 25 crore to the BJP. The amount of Rs 25 crore was given to the Shiv Sena in 2022.

    The company, which is described as a manufacturer of warehouses and storage units, gave no money to any other political party, the data uploaded by the Election Commission showed. Electoral bond purchases and donated by Qwik Supply were behind Rs 1,368 crore of Future Gaming and Hotel Services — another little-known lottery company — and Rs 966 crore of Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infra.

    Honeywell Properties Private Ltd, another firm with a Reliance link, purchased bonds worth Rs 30 crore on April 8, 2021 and gave all of them to the BJP.

    When the Reliance connection first came to light last week, a Reliance Industries spokesperson had in response to a detailed questionnaire, said, “Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity.” It, however, had not commented on its association with the firm. Qwik Supply, an unlisted private company, was incorporated on November 9, 2000, with an authorised share capital of Rs 130.99 crore. Its paid-up capital is Rs 129.99 crore.

    The firm had a revenue of over Rs 500 crore in 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023) but profit numbers were not known.

    It bought electoral bonds worth Rs 360 crore in 2021-22 to give away to political parties. In the same year, its net profit was only Rs 21.72 crore. It bought another Rs 50 crore worth of bonds in 2023-24.

    The company has three directors, and one reported key management personnel.

    The longest-serving director currently on board is Tapas Mitra — who incidentally also sits on the board of 25 other companies — was appointed on November 17, 2014.

    Mitra is a director of partnership firms such as Reliance Eros Productions LLP and companies such as Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline Company Pvt Ltd.

    Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline is registered in Ahmedabad at an address shared by some other Reliance companies, such as Reliance Paging Pvt Ltd, Jamnagar Ratlam Pipeline Pvt Ltd, Reliance Tankages Pvt Ltd and Reliance Oil and Petroleum Pvt Ltd.

    Vipul Pranlal Mehta has been a director on the board of Qwik since December 10, 2019. He is also a director of eight other companies, including one called Rel Icons and Traders Pvt Ltd.

    Sridhar Titti is the most recently appointed director, joining the board on November 27, 2023.

    One of two directors of Honewell Properties, Satyanarayanamurthy Veera Venkata Korlep, has been on the board of several Reliance group firms since 2005. The company also shares its registered address with several group firms.

    Filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) showed Reliance Group Support, Reliance Fire Brigade and Reliance Hospital Management together owning 50.04 per cent of Qwik, which provides logistics and supply chain support to Reliance’s retail unit.

    Nexg Devices Pvt Ltd, a firm linked to Surender Lunia, purchased Rs 35 crore worth of electoral bonds in May 2019 and November 2022. Another firm linked to him, Infotel Business Solutions bought electoral bonds worth Rs 15 crore in May 2019.

    He was the one who sold a 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV held by Reliance-linked firms to the Adani Group.

  • Power Games: Rahul plans Bharat Jodo-2 from Guj to Arunachal

    Express News Service

    Direct actionRahul plans Bharat Jodo-2 from Guj to Arunachal

    Gandhi’s political guru Gopal Krishna Gokhale gave him a piece of critical advice when the Mahatma returned from South Africa to take a plunge into India’s freedom movement. He asked Gandhi to travel across India, meet the common people and listen to them to understand the country. Gandhi followed the advice and the rest is history. Rahul Gandhi seems to have taken this leaf out of the Mahatma’s playbook. Sources say he plans to follow up the first leg of the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra with another one from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh — a Porbandar to Parshuram Kund yatra. The unexpected success of the yatra with an overwhelming response across the south and central India has removed whatever doubts and dilemmas he had over the direct contact plan, according to sources. Rahul has repeatedly complained that the mainstream media was not raising issues concerning common people and ignoring the voice of opposition. Sources say the first leg of the yatra has convinced him that direct contact with the people by walking through the villages, towns and cities was more effective than reaching out to them through the media. He feels that the vast swathes of the country comprising Gujarat, UP, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, all the way to Arunachal need to be covered too. Sources say there is no doubt over Bharat Jodo-2, only the dates are to be finalised. It can start anytime after the first leg ends in February next year.

    Flying highReliance to provide aerospace solutions with DRDO

    Mukesh Ambani’s technology company Jio Platforms has quietly entered into teaming agreements with several aerospace laboratories of the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation, and also joined hands with the public sector Bharat Electronics Ltd and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for offering indigenously-developed software tools for designing, operating and maintaining aerospace and defence products. Jio Platforms will be India’s first company which will be offering such indigenous software tools. This market in India has so far been dominated by French and US defence companies. Sources said Jio Platforms plans to establish a dedicated aerospace engineering centre in Bengaluru in the next two years and recruit over one thousand aerospace engineers for research activities. Jio Platforms’ parent company Reliance Industries Ltd had earlier acquired an 83 per cent stake in Bangalore-based software simulation tools company SankhyaSutra Labs with an investment of $30.85 million. SankhyaSutra Labs has developed Computational Fluid Dynamics-based simulation software for the indigenous manufacturing of various hardware components for aerospace systems. This technology will help Indian companies to develop components, and sub-assembly of western and Russian weapons and platforms. With its new tieups, Jio Platforms will now provide design solutions for fighters, stealth drones, aero-jet engines, etc.

    Delhi liquor scamCBI chargesheets small fish, spares policymakers

    After hundreds of raids and months of investigation and interrogation into the Delhi excise policy which was allegedly framed to favour a few, the CBI has failed to chargesheet any of the policymakers. The chargesheet filed by the agency names two junior officers of the Delhi government. They were involved only in the implementation of the policy after it was notified. They had no role in the drafting of the policy. The new excise policy was drafted by an empowered group of ministers comprising Excise Minister Manish Sisodia and his Cabinet colleagues, Satyendra Jain and Kailash Gehlot. The AAP government was accused of bringing in a policy to favour a handful of friendly businessmen. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi had raised questions about the process of formulating the policy and its content. The BJP and its ministers in the Union government flagged lacunae in the policy. But the CBI’s chargesheet indicates that it has focussed only on the implementation side of the policy and not on the process of its formulation, which was in the eye of the storm. Sources said that the case made out against the junior officers in the chargesheet is weak, to say the least, and it would collapse like a house of cards in the first hearing itself as they have merely implemented a policy notified by the government. The CBI chargesheet does not provide answers to many questions; it has instead raised more questions.

    Direct action
    Rahul plans Bharat Jodo-2 from Guj to Arunachal

    Gandhi’s political guru Gopal Krishna Gokhale gave him a piece of critical advice when the Mahatma returned from South Africa to take a plunge into India’s freedom movement. He asked Gandhi to travel across India, meet the common people and listen to them to understand the country. Gandhi followed the advice and the rest is history. Rahul Gandhi seems to have taken this leaf out of the Mahatma’s playbook. Sources say he plans to follow up the first leg of the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra with another one from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh — a Porbandar to Parshuram Kund yatra. The unexpected success of the yatra with an overwhelming response across the south and central India has removed whatever doubts and dilemmas he had over the direct contact plan, according to sources. Rahul has repeatedly complained that the mainstream media was not raising issues concerning common people and ignoring the voice of opposition. Sources say the first leg of the yatra has convinced him that direct contact with the people by walking through the villages, towns and cities was more effective than reaching out to them through the media. He feels that the vast swathes of the country comprising Gujarat, UP, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, all the way to Arunachal need to be covered too. Sources say there is no doubt over Bharat Jodo-2, only the dates are to be finalised. It can start anytime after the first leg ends in February next year.

    Flying high
    Reliance to provide aerospace solutions with DRDO

    Mukesh Ambani’s technology company Jio Platforms has quietly entered into teaming agreements with several aerospace laboratories of the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation, and also joined hands with the public sector Bharat Electronics Ltd and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for offering indigenously-developed software tools for designing, operating and maintaining aerospace and defence products. Jio Platforms will be India’s first company which will be offering such indigenous software tools. This market in India has so far been dominated by French and US defence companies. Sources said Jio Platforms plans to establish a dedicated aerospace engineering centre in Bengaluru in the next two years and recruit over one thousand aerospace engineers for research activities. Jio Platforms’ parent company Reliance Industries Ltd had earlier acquired an 83 per cent stake in Bangalore-based software simulation tools company SankhyaSutra Labs with an investment of $30.85 million. SankhyaSutra Labs has developed Computational Fluid Dynamics-based simulation software for the indigenous manufacturing of various hardware components for aerospace systems. This technology will help Indian companies to develop components, and sub-assembly of western and Russian weapons and platforms. With its new tieups, Jio Platforms will now provide design solutions for fighters, stealth drones, aero-jet engines, etc.

    Delhi liquor scam
    CBI chargesheets small fish, spares policymakers

    After hundreds of raids and months of investigation and interrogation into the Delhi excise policy which was allegedly framed to favour a few, the CBI has failed to chargesheet any of the policymakers. The chargesheet filed by the agency names two junior officers of the Delhi government. They were involved only in the implementation of the policy after it was notified. They had no role in the drafting of the policy. The new excise policy was drafted by an empowered group of ministers comprising Excise Minister Manish Sisodia and his Cabinet colleagues, Satyendra Jain and Kailash Gehlot. The AAP government was accused of bringing in a policy to favour a handful of friendly businessmen. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi had raised questions about the process of formulating the policy and its content. The BJP and its ministers in the Union government flagged lacunae in the policy. But the CBI’s chargesheet indicates that it has focussed only on the implementation side of the policy and not on the process of its formulation, which was in the eye of the storm. Sources said that the case made out against the junior officers in the chargesheet is weak, to say the least, and it would collapse like a house of cards in the first hearing itself as they have merely implemented a policy notified by the government. The CBI chargesheet does not provide answers to many questions; it has instead raised more questions.

  • India expected to see faster progress on climate goals: Report

    According to “Global Carbon Budget Report 2022,” the top four CO2 emitters in 2021 were China (31 per cent), the US (14 per cent), the European Union (8 per cent) and India (7 per cent).

  • Contours of Reliance succession emerge

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), on Monday outlined the succession plan at India’s most valued company. Speaking to shareholders at RIL’s 45th annual general meeting on Monday, Ambani said his elder children Akash and Isha (twins) have assumed leadership roles in Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail, respectively, while his youngest son Anant is set to take over the new energy business. 

    The billionaire, however, did not divulge who would get the bread-and-butter oil-to-chemical (O2C) business. Isha, who is married to Anand Piramal of the Piramal Group, has majored in psychology and South Asian studies from Yale University. Akash and Anant have graduated from Brown University in the US.

    Akash and Isha have significant experience in their domain as they had joined the boards of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd as directors way back in October 2014. As for Anant, he will be leading RIL’s ambitious foray into green energy with a planned capital expenditure of $10 billion. He will face stiff competition from rival billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group.

    This, however, doesn’t mean Mukesh will retire soon as he will “continue to provide hands-on leadership”. The transition is happening two decades after the bitter battle between Mukesh and his younger brother Anil after their father Dhirubhai died without leaving a will. Mukesh is trying to avoid such a conflict by putting in place a smooth succession plan. 

    NEW DELHI:  Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), on Monday outlined the succession plan at India’s most valued company. Speaking to shareholders at RIL’s 45th annual general meeting on Monday, Ambani said his elder children Akash and Isha (twins) have assumed leadership roles in Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail, respectively, while his youngest son Anant is set to take over the new energy business. 

    The billionaire, however, did not divulge who would get the bread-and-butter oil-to-chemical (O2C) business. Isha, who is married to Anand Piramal of the Piramal Group, has majored in psychology and South Asian studies from Yale University. Akash and Anant have graduated from Brown University in the US.

    Akash and Isha have significant experience in their domain as they had joined the boards of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd as directors way back in October 2014. As for Anant, he will be leading RIL’s ambitious foray into green energy with a planned capital expenditure of $10 billion. He will face stiff competition from rival billionaire Gautam Adani-led Adani Group.

    This, however, doesn’t mean Mukesh will retire soon as he will “continue to provide hands-on leadership”. The transition is happening two decades after the bitter battle between Mukesh and his younger brother Anil after their father Dhirubhai died without leaving a will. Mukesh is trying to avoid such a conflict by putting in place a smooth succession plan. 

  • Amazon, Future talks have failed, Amazon lawyer to Supreme Court

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: US e-commerce giant Amazon on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that there were talks for settlement between Amazon and Future Group but there has been no headway in the mediation proceedings on the assets of Future Retail Ltd (FRL).

    A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli was informed by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who was appearing for Amazon, that even as the top court had ordered to keep hands off, FRL stores “have been taken over” by Reliance.

    “Nothing can happen through conciliation, we tried but nothing can happen,” Subramanian told the bench.

    He also complained that even when proceedings are pending before different forums the FRL shops “have been taken over by Reliance and not only has Reliance taken over, it has also come in public disclosure”.

    “When an order was passed by Emergency Arbitrator, Reliance had made a filing with stock exchange to say that they will enforce their obligations as far as the Future Group is concerned,” Subramanium said.

    The senior advocate further submitted that he doesn’t don’t want a message to go that orders of court can be happily flouted.

    Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Future Group, submitted that no assets have been transferred and the stores have been taken over by Reliance. He said that not a single store has been surrendered, Reliance came and overnight removed the boards as law permits.

    “We have been saying from day one that Amazon is driving us to our knees, they have done it, we are broke. We have no money to fight it,” he added.

    Salve submitted that Future Group has been unable to pay the rent for over two years and the landlords are therefore terminating its leases.

    “We had no money to pay them, which is what we have been telling all forums. Reliance signed up with the landlords. We were in no position to pay. Rents have not been paid for two years. We are broke, we have no money,” Salve added. He further said the shop takeover started 15 days ago.

    “We have no control if Reliance is acting outside this litigation. Reliance is taking over and we can’t do anything. We haven’t signed anywhere. In fact, Biyani went and protested.”

    Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Future Coupons Limited. The apex court said it will hear arguments further on Wednesday.

    On March 3, Amazon proposed before the Supreme Court to have an informal dialogue with the Future Group to settle the ongoing dispute between the parties amicably.

    Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC and FRL are embroiled in a legal fight over FRL’s Rs 24,713 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail.

    Amazon has been opposing the Future group’s decision to go ahead with the merger deal of FRL with Reliance Retail. It got the Emergency Award of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in its favour which restrained Future group from going ahead with the merger deal.

  • Future Group-Reliance deal: SC to hear on July 20 Amazon plea against Delhi HC verdict

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will hear on July 20 the Amazon plea against the Delhi High Court verdict which stayed the directive by its single-judge and paved the way for the multi-billion dollar deal to amalgamate Future Retail Ltd (FRL) with Reliance Retail.

    A bench of Justices RF Nariman, KM Joseph and BR Gavai was informed by senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Future group, that a Singapore tribunal will commence hearing on the issue from July 12 and requested that the proceedings on the appeals be adjourned for a week.

    Senior advocate Gopal Subramanian, appearing for the US-based e-commerce giant, said he had no problem if the hearing on the appeals was adjourned by a week, as they will be busy next week before the tribunal.

    The bench then posted the matter for further hearing on July 20. On February 22, the top court had asked the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) not to pass the final order on the amalgamation. The Future group had moved the tribunal seeking regulatory approvals to the Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance.

    Amazon moved the top court against the order of the Delhi High Court division bench which paved the way for the Reliance-FRL deal. On February 8, the division bench had stayed the single judge direction to FRL and various statutory authorities to maintain status quo on the mega deal.

    The interim direction was passed on FRL’s appeal challenging the February 2 order of the single judge. The high court division bench had also declined Amazon’s request to keep its order in abeyance for a week so that it can explore appropriate remedies.

    In August last year, the Future group had reached an agreement to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance. Subsequently, Amazon took FRL into an emergency arbitration before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) over an alleged breach of contract by the Future group.

    Amazon had first filed a plea before the high court (single judge) for enforcement of the October 25, 2020 Emergency Arbitrator (EA) award by SIAC restraining FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.

    The high court division bench had however said that it was staying the single judge order as FRL was not a party to the share subscription agreement (SSA) between Amazon and Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) and the US e-commerce giant was not a party to the deal between FRL and Reliance Retail.

    It had further said it was of the prima facie view that the shareholding agreement (SHA) between FRL and FCPL, the SSA between FCPL and Amazon and the deal between FRL and Reliance Retail “are different” and “therefore, the group of companies doctrine cannot be invoked”.

    Another reason given by the court for its interim order was that there was prima facie no reason to seek a status quo order before the single judge. The high court had said there were a lot of contentious issues involved in the matter and it was not going to adjudicate on them at this stage.

    It had also said that its observations were only prima facie and the single judge ought not to be influenced by them when pronouncing the order on Amazon’s plea for enforcement of the EA award by SIAC restraining FRL from going ahead with the deal.

    FRL, in its appeal, had claimed that if the February 2 order was not stayed it “would be an absolute disaster” for it as the proceedings before the NCLT for approving the amalgamation scheme have been put on hold.

    It had contended that the single judge’s status quo order will effectively derail the entire scheme which has been approved by statutory authorities in accordance with law.

    In its suit before the single judge for enforcing the EA award, Amazon has sought to restrain FRL from taking any steps to complete the transaction with entities that are a part of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group.

    Amazon has also sought detention of the Biyanis, directors of FCPL and FRL and other related parties in civil prison and attaching of their properties for alleged “wilful disobedience” of the EA order.

    After the SIAC’s EA order, Amazon wrote to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), stock exchanges and CCI, urging them to take into consideration the arbitrator’s interim decision as it is a binding order.

    FRL thereafter moved the high court to restrain Amazon from writing to Sebi, CCI and other regulators about SIAC’s order, saying it amounts to interfering with the agreement with Reliance.

    A single judge on December 21 last year had on FRL’s plea passed an interim order allowing Amazon to write to the statutory authorities, but also observed that prima facie it appeared the US e-commerce giant’s attempt to control Future Retail was violative of FEMA and FDI rules.

    Against the observation, Amazon moved an appeal before a division bench and during its pendency, it filed the suit for the enforcement of the EA award.

  • Delhi High Court stays direction to maintain status quo on Future-Reliance deal

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed its single judge direction to Future Retail Ltd (FRL) and various statutory authorities to maintain status quo with regard to the Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.

    A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh passed the interim direction on FRL’s appeal challenging the February 2 order of the single judge.

    It said that statutory authorities, like National Company Law Tribunal, Competition Commission of India (CCI) and SEBI, cannot be restrained from proceeding in accordance with law with regard to the deal.

    The bench also declined Amazon’s request to keep its order in abeyance for a week so that it can explore appropriate remedies.

    The court issued notice to Amazon and sought its stand on FRL’s appeal by February 26 when it will commence day-to-day hearing of the matter.

    Amazon had first filed a plea before the single judge for enforcement of the October 25, 2020 Emergency Arbitrator (EA) award by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) restraining FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.

    In the interim order on Monday, the division bench said it was staying the single judge order as firstly, FRL was not a party to the share subscription agreement (SSA) between Amazon and Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) and the US e-commerce giant was not a party to the deal between FRL and Reliance Retail.

    The bench further said it was of the prima facie view that the share holding agreement (SHA) between FRL and FCPL, the SSA between FCPL and Amazon and the deal between FRL and Reliance Retail “are different” and “therefore, the group of companies doctrine cannot be invoked”.

    Another reason given by the court for its interim order was that there was prima facie no reason to seek a status quo order before the single judge.

    The bench said there were a lot of contentious issues involved in the matter and it was not going to adjudicate on them at this stage.

    It also said that its observations were only prima facie and the single judge ought not to be influenced by them when pronouncing the order on Amazon’s plea for enforcement of the October 25, 2020 Emergency Arbitrator (EA) award by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) restraining FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.

    The order came after the conclusion of arguments, over a period of three days, by FRL and Amazon on Future Retail’s plea challenging the single judge’s February 2 order.

    Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail Ltd (FRL), represented by senior advocate Harish Salve, told the court on Monday that Amazon’s claims that it wanted to salvage the Indian company was “humbug”.

    Amazon, represented by senior advocates Gopal Subramanium and Rajiv Nayar, had reiterated that FRL’s appeal against the single judge order was not maintainable.

    They had also argued that the EA order was a valid award and enforceable.

    Salve, in rebuttal, said that if Amazon wanted to salvage FRL, it could have easily invested Rs 25,000 crore which was “peanuts” for the US e-commerce giant.

    He said that Amazon keeps saying it wanted to and wants to help FRL, but it was all “humbug” as it did not take any steps to do so.

    Salve further argued that the EA order was not valid as an earlier single judge order of December last year had held that there was no arbitration agreement between FRL and Amazon.

    He further said that the instant appeal against the February 2 order was maintainable under the Civil Procedure Code.

    FRL, in its appeal filed through law firm Naik and Naik and Company and advocate Harshvardhan Jha, has claimed that if the February 2 order was not stayed it “would be an absolute disaster” for it as the proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for approving the amalgamation scheme have been put on hold.

    It has also contended that the single judge’s status quo order will effectively derail the entire scheme which has been approved by statutory authorities in accordance with law.

    In its suit before the single judge for enforcing the EA award, Amazon has also sought to restrain FRL from taking any steps to complete the transaction with entities that are a part of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group.

    Besides that Amazon has also sought detention of the Biyanis, directors of FCPL and FRL and other related parties in civil prison and attaching of their properties for alleged “wilful disobedience” of the EA order.

    In August last, Future had reached an agreement to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing units to Reliance.

  • Vandalism: Reliance Jio to move Punjab & Haryana HC, seeks urgent intervention

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), through its subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, in a petition mentioned to be filed in Punjab and Haryana High Court today, has sought urgent intervention of Government authorities to bring a complete stop to illegal acts of vandalism by miscreants, said RIL.

    These acts of violence have endangered the lives of thousands of its employees and caused damage and disruption to the vital communications infrastructure, sales and service outlets run by its subsidiaries in the two states, RIL said in a media statement.

    The miscreants indulging in vandalism have been instigated and aided by vested interests and our business rivals. Taking advantage of the ongoing farmers’ agitation near the national capital, these vested interests have launched an incessant, malicious and motivated vilification campaign against Reliance, which has absolutely no basis in truth, it said.

    The falsehood of the campaign becomes crystal clear from the following irrefutable facts, which we have placed before the Honourable High Court. These facts establish that Reliance has nothing whatsoever to do with the three farm laws currently debated in the country, and in no way benefits from them. As such, the sole nefarious purpose of linking the name of Reliance to these laws is to harm our businesses and damage our reputation, said RIL.

    “Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), or any other affiliate of our parent company, i.e., Reliance Industries Limited have not done any ‘corporate’ or ‘contract’ farming in the past, and have absolutely no plans to enter this business,” RIL said in its statement.

    Neither Reliance nor any of our subsidiaries has purchased any agricultural land, directly or indirectly, in Punjab/Haryana or anywhere else in India, for the purpose of “corporate” or “contract” farming. We have absolutely no plans to do so, it added.

    Reliance Retail is an unmatched leader in organised retail business in India. It retailsproducts of all categories including food grains and staples, fruits and vegetables, items of daily use, apparels, medicines, electronic products of various brands belonging to independent manufacturers and suppliers in the country. It does not purchase any food grains directly from farmers, according to RIL.

    It has never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain unfair advantage over farmers or sought that its suppliers buy from farmers at less than remunerative prices, nor will it ever do so.

    “We at Reliance have immense gratitude and the greatest respect for India’s kisans, who are the ‘ANNA DATA’ of 1.3 billion Indians. Reliance and its affiliates are committed to doing everything to enrich and empower them. As customers of their services, we believe in building a strong and equal partnership with Indian farmers on the basis of shared prosperity, inclusive development and an equitable New India,” said RIL.

    Therefore, Reliance and its affiliates fully share and support the aspiration of Indianfarmers to get a fair and profitable price on a predictable basis for what they produce with exemplary hard work, innovation and dedication. Reliance seeks significant augmentation of their incomes on a sustainable basis, and pledges to work towards this goal.

    Indeed, we shall insist on our suppliers to strictly abide by the Minimum Support Price(MSP) mechanism, and/or any other mechanism for a remunerative price for farmproduce, as may be determined and implemented by the government, RIL added.

    Far from hurting the interests of Indian farmers, the businesses of Reliance have actually benefited them and the Indian public at large. 

  • Vodafone-Idea wins over call quality

    In November, Vodafone-Idea has overtaken Reliance Jio and Airtel in terms of excellent call quality. Vodafone-Idea has been the best in terms of call quality. This has been revealed in a report by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Vi has got the top position in terms of voice call quality.

    For information, let us know that the data of the user has been collected from 2G, 3G and 4G on behalf of TRAI. Voice quality feedback has been made available through the user application from TRAI’s MyCall dashboard.

    Idea received a 4.9 out of 5 rating in terms of indoor call quality in November, which means Idea got the first position, while Vodafone received a 4.6 rating. Let us tell you that in the beginning of November this year BSNL achieved the top position in terms of call quality with 3.7 rating, while Airtel got 3.5 rating. After this, Reliance Jio was rated 3.2.

    Talking about outdoor voice quality, Vodafone has a rating of 4.3, while Idea has a rating of 4.9. Apart from these, Airtel has an outdoor voice quality rating of 3.9 in November, while Jio has an outdoor voice call rating of 3.6.