Deleveraging To Boost Stocks

By the time you read this, Reliance Jio’s rollout of fixed line broadband commercial services will have started.  Offerings of fast fibre-based home broadband will be backed up by bundled set-top boxes and LED TVs. In addition, Jio will offer cloud-based services to businesses, by partnering with Microsoft. It is also entering the Internet of Things (IoT) segment. This is coupled with various measures for reducing the Rs1.54 trillion debt on Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) balance sheet. RIL intends to go debt-free in the next 18 months. It also intends to list Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Retail as separate companies within the next five years. One key move is to try and sell a stake to Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s largest crude and gas producers, for $15 bn. This involves RIL hiving off the Oils-to-Chemicals division (by far, the largest business...