i Develop Stocks Advisory

Reliance sees opportunities in polyester Reliance Industries Ltd plans to expand its polyester business, including by acquisitions, and the refinery of a subsidiary would open ahead of schedule this year, chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Thursday. Ambani, ranked by Forbes Magazine as the world's fifth-richest man, also told a shareholders' meeting that Reliance would seek opportunities in alternative energy as a natural extension to its conventional energy portfolio. Shares in India's most valuable listed firm fell as Ambani was muted on the start date for gas supply from its Krishna-Godavari basin fields off India's east coast. Ambani only reaffirmed the $77 billion company was on track for oil and gas production from the fields later this financial year. At 12.09 pm on Thursday the shares were down 2.7 per cent lower at Rs 2,198. Ambani said Reliance's polyester capacity rose by a quarter to 2.5 million tonnes a year after it bought the assets of Malaysian polyester maker Hualon Corp last year. The company would focus on speciality polyester, looking for opportunities in automotive, medical and construction fields. "Reliance envisages consolidating further its global leadership in polyester by pursuing greenfield investment and acquisitions in the entire value chain," Ambani said. He said a 580,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery by unit Reliance Petroleum Ltd, 5 per cent owned by Chevron, at Reliance's Jamnagar complex in Gujarat, would be commissioned ahead of schedule. A source had told Reuters in April Reliance would begin testing its new refinery in July and commission it in September.