Reliance Industries overtakes British energy giant BP Plc to become 6th largest company in the world; now valued at $138 bn

Reliance Industries has overtaken British energy giant BP Plc to become the sixth-largest energy company in the world. The conglomerate is now valued at $138 billion. It overtook the BP Plc’s $132 billion at the close of trading on Tuesday. While RIL’s market capitalisation briefly surpassed BP for the first time at the end of October, it has now regained the lead against the British company. The firm is also narrowing the gap with PetroChina Co., currently Asia’s biggest oil firm by value, a Bloomberg report said. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries’ shares have increased at thrice the pace of India’s benchmark index following an announcement by Asia’s richest Indian to cut the company’s net debt to zero in 18 months. He said stake sale in the oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco would be one of the measures to this end. The market valuation of Reliance Industries, the country’s most valued firm, is fast nearing the Rs 10 lakh crore mark helped by the continuous rise in its share price. It overtook BP Plc to become the world’s sixth-largest energy company in terms of market capitalisation. [caption id=“attachment_4669421” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries. Reuters[/caption] According to Bloomberg, Reliance’s shares have witnessed three-fold growth compared to the average pace of India’s benchmark index this year. RIL shares started climbing after Mukesh Ambani announced plans about cutting the company’s net debt to zero in the next 18 months through measures, including a stake sale in the oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco. Reliance Industries is currently valued at $138 billion, while BP Plc has a market valuation of $132 billion, as on Tuesday. Exxon Mobil Corp tops the list with a market value of about $290 billion. However, the Aramco IPO, with a valuation target of between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion, will make it the world’s biggest. On Tuesday, the company’s market value saw further rally on Tuesday, thanks to a tariff hike announcement by Reliance Jio.

BREAKING | Reliance Industries Ltd (#RIL) hits market cap of Rs 9.5 lakh crore.#Reliance #RelianceIndustries @FlameOfTruth pic.twitter.com/7fhBAsf0Wq

— Moneycontrol (@moneycontrolcom) November 19, 2019

With the fresh development, Ambani’s net worth has now touched $56 billion, which makes him Asia’s richest person above Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma, showed Bloomberg Billionaire Index (BBI) data, according to a report in The Economic Times. RIL has achieved another milestone last week, becoming the first Indian firm to hit a market valuation of Rs 9.5 lakh crore. Last month, RIL became the first Indian firm to hit the Rs 9 lakh crore market valuation mark in intra-day trade. In August 2018, RIL became the first domestic firm to cross the Rs 8 lakh crore mark in terms of market valuation. Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost