Reliance Industries reports 11% growth in Oil-to-Chemical revenue for FY'25

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), a major Indian conglomerate with a net worth of Rs 10 trillion (US$ 118 billion), reported an 11 percent growth in turnover from its Oil-to-Chemicals (O2C) segment for the financial year 2024-25. This growth was primarily driven by higher volumes and increased domestic product placement, including gasoline, gasoil, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF). These three categories recorded significant surges in turnover, with increases of 42 percent, 33 percent, and 62 percent, respectively, during the period under review.

Commenting on the results, Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd, said: “The Oil-to-Chemicals business posted a resilient performance despite considerable volatility in energy markets. Significant demand-supply imbalances in downstream chemicals markets have led to multi-year low margins. Our business teams ensured optimization of integrated operations and feedstock costs to enhance margin capture across value chains. The Oil & Gas business recorded its highest-ever annual EBITDA, driven by higher production from our KGD6 and CBM blocks.”

The O2C segment accounts for approximately 70 percent of Reliance Industries' turnover. The company's increased revenue was further supported by its oil and gas segment, which registered a 3.2 percent growth. Higher production volumes from the KGD6 and CBM blocks also played a significant role in boosting RIL’s overall turnover from the O2C segment.

Consolidated turnover
Reliance Industries Limited has announced its consolidated financial results for the period ending March 31, 2025. The company reported a net profit of Rs. 19,407 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to Rs. 18,951 crore for the same period in the previous year. For the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the company had posted a net profit of Rs. 18,540 crore.

The company’s total income for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, stood at Rs. 2,69,478 crore, an increase from Rs. 2,45,249 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. For the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the total income was Rs. 2,48,079 crore.

For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Reliance Industries reported a total income of Rs. 9,98,114 crore, up from Rs. 9,30,529 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2024. The company recorded a net profit of Rs. 69,648 crore for FY2025, marginally higher than the Rs. 69,621 crore reported for FY2024.

Commenting on the performance, Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, said, “FY2025 has been a challenging year for the global business environment, with weak macro-economic conditions and a shifting geo-political landscape. Our focus on operational discipline, customer-centric innovation, and fulfilling India’s growth requirements has helped Reliance deliver a steady financial performance during the year.”

Sources: Reliance industries Ltd, and Polymerupdate Research

Polymer-side developments
Regarding personal protective equipment (PPE), the delta is slightly up by 4 percent, with demand continuing to perform well. This growth is largely driven by domestic placement. The focus on domestic markets aligns with the broader strategy I mentioned earlier. Without this strong domestic exposure, navigating the current environment would have been considerably more challenging.

On the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) side, performance improved due to lower ethylene dichloride (EDC) prices, which significantly boosted the year-on-year delta. Demand remains robust, particularly in the agriculture and infrastructure sectors, and we do not anticipate any major surprises from a domestic demand perspective.

Lastly, on the polyester chain, which is a significant segment for us, we experienced a 15 percent decline, primarily due to lower paraxylene (PX) prices and downstream polyester prices. While margins improved, the overall figures were still lower due to the impact of PX price trends. We continue to optimize PX versus gasoline. Regarding polyester demand, the cotton versus polyester staple fiber (PSF) price differential remains attractive, which should help sustain demand in this segment.

Polyester expansion
These are projects that we had talked about, but just putting it there in terms of 1 million tonne expansion for polyester. And the difference is that it is focused on the high growth consumer and downstream market. And this specific can be seen on active wear, athleisure, hygiene denim. So these are products which can also command a higher premium. So that's where the focus is and then it is integrated with backward integration with three million tonne PTA facility that is also planned.

So in essence, and all these factories will be state of the art and it is got, you know, ensuring that the infrastructure is pretty good from an overall cost effectiveness and efficiency on capex. So projects are there. So we are thinking about this project and of course the next one on PVC also to see the benefit of all this coming in 2027-2028 in terms of its contribution to the EBITDA. And this is the PVC one. This is a more integrated one with caustic chlorine and EDC, both in Dahej and then vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and PVC in Nagothane and then CPVC (Chlorinated PVC) in Dahej.

Again, this as you know is a product where India is significantly short even as we talk. It is a 2 to 2.5 million tonne shortage and we think that possibly it is the right time to be investing here. And these are the basic updates on the vinyl chain and you can see some of the pictures that we have on the visuals on the land that is acquired near Dahej.

Margin focus
Construction is commissioned 2026-2027 but financial is coming in 2027-2028. So overall the focus was always on maximizing margin capture, focus on crude procurement, on getting more and more ethane, focusing on the domestic retail sector, as well as industrial sectors. We are trying to do a lot of things on freight cost through term charter vessels because one aspect is that the deltas are weak, but what can we do differently in terms of ensuring that we are able to negate, if not fully, but yes, you can squeeze out efficiency. So these are things that we are focusing on.

Larger parcels by converting crude tankers to product services focus on recycled PET which we have been talking about and of course both the polyester and the PVC expansion should give us volume lift in 2027-2028 earnings. So, not a very detailed update, but just to give you some of them in terms of the 10 gigawatt per annum capacity that we have for solar and importantly, it is designed in such a way that it is quick, we can quickly jump it up to 20 gigawatts, so that is an important point there. We are also focused on 30 gigawatts of battery manufacturing. So this is essentially cells to pack, and then you integrate it into a BSS system but that is the whole aspect there.


DILIP KUMAR JHA
Editor
dilip.jha@polymerupdate.com