Section 35
Reliance Industries
Started as: Trading in yarn and spices from a small office in Bombay
- founded
- 1958
- founder
- Dhirubhai Ambani
- headquarters
- Mumbai, Maharashtra
- 11,75,919
- Consolidated revenue, FY2025-26 (₹ crore) · 2026
- 95,610
- Consolidated profit after tax, FY2025-26 (₹ crore) · 2026
- 2,07,911
- Consolidated EBITDA, FY2025-26 (₹ crore) · 2026
The story
Dhirubhai Ambani started Reliance in 1958 as a small trading firm in Bombay. He moved into making polyester cloth, sold under the Vimal brand, and then into the raw materials that cloth is made from.
This backward chain led the company to petrochemicals and then to oil refining at Jamnagar. Money from these large plants later paid for retail from 2006 and the Jio mobile network from 2016.
In 2025-26 Reliance reported record consolidated revenue of ₹11,75,919 crore. Its consumer businesses, retail and Jio, now sit beside the original energy and materials business.
Where it works today
Oil refining and petrochemicalsOil and gasRetailTelecom and digital (Jio)MediaNew energy
Main companies
Reliance Industries · Jio Platforms · Reliance Retail · Network18 · Reliance New Energy
Timeline
- 1958Dhirubhai Ambani starts a trading business in Bombay.
- 1966Opens a textile mill at Naroda, near Ahmedabad.
- 1977Reliance goes public; thousands of small investors buy its shares.
- 1999The Jamnagar refinery starts up.
- 2005The group is divided between Mukesh and Anil Ambani.
- 2006Reliance Retail begins.
- 2016Jio launches 4G mobile services.
- 2020Jio Platforms raises investment from global companies, including Facebook and Google.