Mukesh Ambani's RIL surpasses BP Plc to become sixth largest global energy firm by market cap

Mukesh Ambani led-Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), on Wednesday, overtook British oil major BP Plc in terms of market capitalisation to become the sixth-largest energy entity in the world.

Driven by strong rally in the last two-session, oil-to-telecom major's market cap touched $131.635 billion on Wednesday as compared to BP Plc's $129.9 billion. The British energy giant's market cap fell today as its stocks were trading lower after it reported a 41 per cent fall in its third-quarter net profit. On Tuesday, shares of BP Plc closed 3.8 per cent lower at $6.33 on the London Stock Exchange.

The BP Plc stock has declined 0.7 per cent on year to date basis, on the contrary RIL stock has given 31 per cent returns on its share value.

However, it may be noted that the two stocks are not strictly comparable, as Reliance is a diversified company engaged in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications, while BP is a core energy company.

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Among the listed companies, Exxon Mobil Corp is the biggest oil and gas firm in the world with a market cap of $290.42 billion, followed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc ($238.15 billion), Chevron Corp ($224.92 billion), Petrochina Co ($149.20 billion), and Total SA ($141.74 billion).

The Reliance Industries shares have been on gaining spree and touched a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,484 on the bourses on Wednesday, amid the conglomerate's plan to create a holding company for its digital platform initiatives. RIL share price has gained 35 per cent during the last year and risen 32 per cent since the beginning of this year.

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Last week, Reliance Industries had said it would set up a new unit to bring all its digital initiatives and apps under a single entity, and infuse Rs 1.08 lakh crore equity into this new unit. The new structure will also create the largest digital services platform company in India. The new entity will continue to work on technologies in areas such as healthcare and education, while also looking at next-gen competencies such as artificial intelligence, Blockchain, virtual and augmented reality, among others.

It will also bring into its fold Reliance's consumer-focused digital offerings such as MyJio, JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews and JioSaavn, while enabling Reliance Jio to become "virtually net debt free" by March 31, 2020 (excluding spectrum liabilities).

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar