Mukesh Ambani’s RIL is now in talks with telecom equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent to procure broadband gear, a senior company official said.
Munish Seth, the newly appointed country head for the company’s Indian business, told reporters that Alcatel-Lucent expects the first set of broadband gear orders to come in early 2011. “We are in initial level of talks with most of the people who have won the spectrum. These majors include India’s largest listed conglomerate, Reliance Industries, and Tikona Digital Networks.” he added.
Earlier this year, many of the India’s top mobile firms like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular spent a combined over $20 billion to grab licenses in recent auctions of 3G and broadband wireless radio airwaves in the fastest-growing cellular market.
But, the dark horse was yet to arrive as Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, made a dramatic return to the telecom business with the $1 billion acquisition of Infotel Broadband, which was the only company to win a nationwide license for broadband wireless spectrum in the government auction. The future plans for RIL are quite aggressive as well. They plan to invest about $5 billion in the venture over the next two years.
Considering that Alcatel-Lucent Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen had mentioned in June that they are considering setting up their global services headquarters in India which would require an investment of $500 million in investments over three years, Mukesh Ambani may be the jack of the pack amongst its competitors.
All these decisions though are facing issues regarding Regulation Concerns as India has India tightened rules for telecom gear imports saying vendors must allow inspection of their equipment and made carriers solely responsible for the security of their networks, addressing security worries that had led to restrictions on Chinese manufacturers. Such regulation norms are proving to be bottlenecks in the process.
Alcatel-Lucent is a pretty huge player in the field and it would be quite beneficial for Reliance Industries if this deal goes in their favor and will soon be fierce contenders for Bharti Airtel for the top slot in the mobile communication industry.

The jewellery retail subsidiary of Reliance Retail, Reliance Jewels heightens the feeling of being free with some attractive offers. With a wide range of jewellery, backed by the assurance of hallmarked gold and certified diamonds and fine shopping ambience, now experience freedom from Making Charges of Jewellery with Reliance Jewels.

Reliance Jewels is offering NO MAKING CHARGES on select Diamond jewellery, Kundan, Polki and designer Antique jewellery. To enrich the sense of liberty it is offering 25%- 50% OFF on making charges of Diamond Jewellery and 5%- 20% OFF on Gold Jewellery making charges. This will enable the customers to get the best buy on any kind of jewellery they always craved for. The offer will be valid for a limited period until August 31, 2010.

Reliance Jewels offers the widest range of designs in Gold, Diamond and Bridal jewellery, carefully selected and designed from every corner of the country to suit the customers discerning tastes. Reliance Jewels offers the finest quality of diamonds and the widest range of designs, ranging from daily wear to party wear, from diamonds for weddings as well as to celebrate every special occasion in a woman’s life.

Reliance Retail is leaving no stone unturned in tapping the lucrative jewellery retail industry in India. With a well established position in various positions including Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Ludhiana, New Delhi and Mumbai, it is gearing up to spread its reach across all major cities of India. Reliance Jewels takes pride in claiming that it masters the art of bringing the best designs of 100% BIS certified gold jewellery and stunning pieces of diamond jewellery. The store provides more than 10,000 exclusive variations of jewellery designs including traditional Amritsari jadau, Ruby and emerald collections and displays a huge range of modern and antique designer collections to give world-class experience to its customers.

LONDON — Reliance Industries has resumed drilling of the KGV-D3-W1 exploration well on the KG-DWN-2003/1 (D3) license in the Krishna Godavarai basin offshore eastern India.

The Transocean rig Frontier 534 is drilling the well in a water depth of 1,653 m (5,423 ft), according to partner Hardy Oil & Gas. The target depth of the well, designed to test the hydrocarbon potential of Mio-Pliocene sands, is 3,514 m (11,529 ft) MD.

The KGV-D3-W1 was spudded April 2 by Transocean’s Deepwater Expedition, but had to be suspended at the end of May, at a depth of 2,608 m (8,556 ft) MD, due to an unresolved problem with the rig’s BOP control system.

Reliance Industries plans to reopen all of its fuel stations in the country and is currently selling petrol and diesel at the same rates as state firms, a company statement said on Wednesday. Reliance, which operates the world’s biggest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, shut down its petrol pumps in 2008 as crude prices surged towards $150 a barrel.

At the time the Indian government subsidized fuel sales by state firms, knocking private retailers out of the market. “If the government announces diesel deregulation then diesel, like petrol, will also be available at market rates. Further to this Reliance will resume operations across all pumps, pan India,” the Reliance statement said. Retail sale of petrol and diesel are again viable since the end of June when the government lifted all controls on petrol and raised administered prices of other fuels including diesel. Reliance owns more than 1,400 fuel stations in India.

The government plans to free diesel prices also, but the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission told Reuters in an interview the government would set diesel rates for the next few months. Essar Oil, the only other private refiner in India, and Reliance had together captured about 17 percent of domestic retail market for diesel and accounted for 10 percent of petrol sales by 2005 before they were forced to shut down their pumps.

“Now, with the deregulation of petrol, there is a level playing field and Reliance petrol will now be sold at the same price as that of the other oil companies,” the statement said.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (Solar Group) and construction company Punj Llyod are among the five companies which have bid for solar power project to be set up in the Parliament House.

“We have received bids from five companies for the solar energy project to be set up in Parliament,” TPS Sidhu, the Chief Executive of Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), which is executing the project, told PTI here.

Three other companies, which have submitted bids, are Wipro Ecoenergy, Lanco and Gurgaon-based DD Solar23 India.

“We are evaluating the bids and successful bidder will be (for Parliament project) announced within next 10 days,” he said, adding that the project was expected to be completed within next three months.

PEDA, which has been asked by the Centre to implement the solar power project in Parliament, had invited bids for commissioning of power project with a capacity of 80 KW using solar photovoltaic technology and its operation and maintenance for 10 years.

“Out of 80 KW of power generation, 50 KW of power will be fed into grid system and rest will be used for battery back up at the Parliament house annexe,” he said.

The Centre had allocated the solar power project for the Parliament House over four months back to PEDA keeping in view of its expertise in non-conventional and renewable energy resources.

“The main objective of this project is to demonstrate and popularise the renewable and new energy resources for the power generation and it has been awarded under the Special Area Demonstration Programme of the government,” he informed.

Besides setting up solar power generation unit, other components of the project are installing water heating system of 2,000 litres capacity, illumination of the house and setting up a small biogas plant of half a tonne capacity per day for the Kitchen in Parliament.

“The other components of the project will be done in a phased manner,” said Sidhu.

State-owned PEDA is a nodal agency for promotion and development of renewable energy projects including solar, biogas and small hydel projects in Punjab. It is also a nodal agency for facilitating project for carbon credit under Clean Development Mechanism.

NEW DELHI: Government auditor CAG said it has completed auditing the expenditure that Reliance Industries incurred in developing Krishna Godavari basin gas field D6, which was at the centre of an inflated billing controversy.

“The audit is complete at CAG end. We are currently in the final compilation stage after which the report will be sent to the Oil Ministry for comments,” a CAG official said.

CAG, which went into the $ 8.8 bn cost incurred by Reliance in producing gas from the nation’s largest field, had examined and received replies on its audit comments from the Mukesh Ambani-led firm.

“In another 30 days, we plan to send it (the report) to the Petroleum Ministry,” the official said.

When asked if Reliance had fully cooperated with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in submiting records pertaining to KG-D6 fields, the official said: “They have given, if not 100 per cent, but mostly what we wanted.”

The CAG plans to complete the entire audit process, which will include incorporating oil ministry’s comments on its findings, by November.

“In 3-4 months time, we will be done with the special audit report. Based on the ministry’s comment, CAG will decide the necessity of placing the report in Parliament,” he said.

Since the audit of KG-D6 is not a statutory audit, as is being done in case of public sector firms, the premier auditor would decide based on ministry’s comments on its findings if the report has to be placed in the Parliament.

“Our intention of the audit is to find out if there was any loss of revenue to the government because of any improper increase in capital expenditure in the KG-D6 fields,” he said.

Government is to get between 10 to 90 per cent of the revenue generated from sale of gas over the life of the field after deducting expenses incurred by the operator (Reliance).

“While it took a while to persuade the ministry for the CAG audit, it then took the ministry some time to persuade the companies as this audit was the first of its kind. So the delay of over two years,” he said.

CAG started audit of Krishna Godavari basin D6 field on December 21 last year. It, however, faced some difficulty in accessing new documets it sought after completing the first round of scrutiny. But within a month, RIL complied and the premier auditor made good progress thereafter.

Petroleum Ministry asked CAG to audit the accounts of RIL, which faced allegations of gold-plating gas field costs that has increased four-fold to $8.8 bn.

RIL had on August 17 agreed to an audit by CAG but the nation’s premier auditor could put its house in order for the audit only by December.

CAG’s scope of audit of PSC in respect of the block KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6) awarded to RIL, for two financial years – 2006-07 and 2007-08, with access to records of previous years linked to transactions of these years.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) today announced that its subsidiary, Reliance Marcellus II, LLC, has signed definitive transaction agreements to enter into a Marcellus Shale joint venture with United States based Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO).

Under the proposed transaction, Reliance will acquire a 60% interest in Marcellus Shale acreage in Central and Northeast Pennsylvania that is currently held in a 50‐50 joint venture between Carrizo and ACP II Marcellus LLC, an affiliate of Avista Capital Partners. Pursuant to the transaction, Reliance will acquire 100% of Avista’s interest and 20% of Carrizo’s interests in the joint venture. Upon completion of the transaction, Reliance and Carrizo will own 60% and 40% interests, respectively, in a newly formed joint venture between the companies.

Reliance will pay a total consideration of $392 million, comprising of $340 million of cash and $52 million of drilling carry obligations. The drilling carry obligations will provide for 75% of Carrizo’s share of development costs over an anticipated two year development program. The joint venture will have approximately 104,400 net acres of undeveloped leasehold in the core area of the Marcellus Shale in Central and Northeast Pennsylvania, of which Reliance’s 60% interest will represent approximately 62,600 net acres. This acreage is expected to support the drilling of approximately 1,000 wells over the next 10 years, with a net resource potential of about 3.4 Tcfe (2.0 Tcfe net to Reliance). The transaction allows for additional growth in the development acreage, at pre‐agreed terms.

Carrizo will serve as the development operator for the joint venture and Reliance has the option to act as a development operator in certain regions in the coming years as part of the joint venture. The transaction is anticipated to close by mid‐September 2010. Commenting on the joint venture, Mr. Walter Van de Vijver, President, International E&P Business, Reliance Industries said, “Reliance is excited about the opportunity to further expand presence in the Marcellus Shale in the United States. We are pleased to establish a long‐term partnership with Carrizo, which has demonstrated operating expertise in the shale plays. The proposed joint venture will supplement strengths achieved through our recent joint ventures and further expands our footprint in North American shale gas operations.”
Jefferies & Company, Inc. acted as lead financial advisor and Vinson & Elkins LLP acted as legal counsel to Reliance. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank provided strategic advise to RIL in respect of this investment.

Reliance Industries will be able to ramp up natural gas output from its Krishna-Godavari deep-sea fields to peak capacity of 80 million metric standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) in the fiscal year to March 2013, Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan said on Wednesday.
The company is currently pumping 55-60 mmscmd, Sundareshan said.Reliance Industries was initially expected to produce 80 mmscmd by the end of this year.

Mukesh Ambani has joined the race to buy the assets of the British Petroleum (BP) Company in Tanzania and three other African countries.

International industry sources said yesterday that Mr Ambani’s two firms, Reliance and Essar, had offered between $400 million (about Sh560 billion) and $500 million (Sh700 billion) for each of the BP Africa’s assets in Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia.

Should the bid succeed, it will consolidate the influence of the world’s fourth richest man in the local fuel market since Mr Ambani already does business in the country through Gulf Africa Petroleum Corp (Gapco). The acquisitions are bound to have far-reaching regional ramifications since Gapco also does business in Kenya and Uganda.

About half a dozen firms, including Libya’s National Oil Corporation, have also expressed interest in buying the BP assets in the five countries. Kenya’s Kenol Kobil had also said it was keen to acquire the assets after BP announced early this year that it was quitting some of its African operations to concentrate only on a handful of markets.

The Tanzanian Government, which holds a 50 per cent stake in BP Tanzania, had also declared that it wished to acquire the oil giant’s business in the country. There have also been reports that Tanzania was considering teaming up with Zambia and Malawi in a joint acquisition, since the business would be a strategic investment to ensure reliable stocks of fuel in the three countries.

Yesterday, Energy and Minerals minister William Ngeleja said though the government had expressed interest in acquiring the business, BP Africa had not responded. He said that as a key shareholder, the government would have to be consulted before the BP assets in Tanzania are sold.

“We are still waiting for their offer. Despite having said they want to sell their shares, they have not yet communicated with us officially,” Mr Ngeleja told The Citizen by phone from his Sengerema constituency, in Mwanza Region.

Last March, Mr Ngeleja announced that buying the BP Africa stake in BP Tanzania would be one of the government’s business ventures. He also said that even if BP found another strategic investor, the transaction would not go on without the government’s approval. “No new investor will come aboard without our approval. This is according to the partnership deal that we have sealed,” he said.

Although the BP Africa asset sale was announced before the company’s oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that has cost it billions of dollars, there were no reports of the proceeds being used to help pay damages arising from the debacle in the United States.

The assets BP is selling include retail outlets, terminals and aviation fuel stations. According to industry sources, Reliance may be looking at supplying gas oil, gasoline and jet fuel to the East African markets from its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat. Currently, the company is the supplier of oil to Gapco, which also owns retail outlets in Uganda and Kenya.

Sectoral experts say the acquisition of the BP assets would give a company a ready market for auto and aviation fuel with a scope for further expansion into neighbouring high growth countries. Besides selling fuel, lubricants and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), BP is the largest aviation fuel supplier in Tanzania, with about 70 per cent market share. BP Tanzania has for a long time held a 35 per cent market share in both the retail and service stations.

The joint venture by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and IMG to develop, market and manage sports in India has turned out to be a boon for Indian football as the first part of their partnership with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the group has decided to sponsor 16 India U-14 boys to spend nine months at the IMG Soccer Academy at Florida for nine months.

Back in March, when RIL and IMG announced their partnership, they decided to initiate a scholarship program which would identify Indian athletes with exceptional talent and thereby provided academic scholarships to their residential academy in the US.

It was in January this year that the AIFF held an U-14 festival in Jamshedpur from which the gifted ones were selected. These boys joined the U-13 team from last year and following a camp, the selected 22 boys were sent for the AFC U-14 festival in Iran in May where they managed to hold the hosts twice with the scoreline reading 1-1 and 2-2 respectively.

From these 22 players, 16 were chosen and shall be sponsored by Mukesh Ambani, the fourth richest man in the world according to Forbes, and the IMG group. The players have been summoned to attend a camp in Gurgaon from the 7th of next month until the 27th following which they shall depart for the US along with the coach. When Goal.com contacted the AIFF, they chose to remain mum on the deal.

The IMG Soccer Academy has seven soccer fields and their facilities are used by the Bradenton Academy who run the US Soccer Residency Program which has provided a steady flow of talent for the US national team with the likes of Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu, Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore coming through their ranks.

This deal marks a new era for sponsorship as it’s the first of its kind in football in India and it’s heartening to see corporates coming forward to support the cause of the most beautiful game.

Interestingly, six of the 16 boys are hailing from Punjab and Chandigarh while the traditional hubs of Indian football, West Bengal and Goa, contributing a player each.

Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries, RIL

Source:http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2715/india-colts/2010/07/29/2046591/exclusive-img-reliance-to-send-sixteen-india-u-14-boys-to