Reliance on track to achieve zero net debt: Report

NEW DELHI: Riding on the Rs 1.3 lakh crore in aggregate fund raising in the last few weeks, Reliance Industries is expected to repay its entire reported net debt even if the Saudi Aramco deal is delayed, a brokerage report said.

The company, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has sold minority stakes in its digital arm to Facebook and private equity firms such as Silver Lake, Vista Equity, KKR and General Atlantic to raise a cumulative Rs 78,562 crore. Also, the company is raising Rs 53,125 crore through a rights issue.

“We analysed RIL’s balance sheet following the recent deal-making. Having raised, on aggregate, Rs 1.3 lakh crore in equity over the past month, we expect the company to repay its entire reported net debt of Rs 1.6 lakh crore in 2020-21, even if the Aramco deal is delayed,” Edelweiss said in a research report on the company.