Reliance Retail

Indian retail company

Reliance Retail

Company type| Subsidiary
ISIN| INE002A01018
Industry| Retail
Founded| 2006; 19 years ago (2006)
Founder| Mukesh Ambani
Headquarters| Mumbai, Maharashtra,

India

Number of locations

| 18,836 (2024)[1]

Area served

| India

Key people

* Mukesh Ambani
(Chairman)
* Isha Ambani
(Managing Director)

Services|

* Supermarket
* Hypermarket
* Cash & carry
* Warehouse
* Grocery store
* Superstore
* Convenience shop

Revenue|  ₹330,870 crore (US$39 billion) (2025)

Operating income

|  ₹24,265 crore (US$2.9 billion) (2025)

Net income

|  ₹12,392 crore (US$1.5 billion) (2025)
Owner|

*     * Reliance Industries (85.12%)
* Vanishree Commercials (4.7%)
* Infotel Infocomm (0.6%)
* Sovereign wealth funds (5.86)
* Private equity firms (4.32%)

Number of employees

| 207,552 (2024)[2]
Parent| Reliance Industries
Subsidiaries| See divisions and subsidiaries
Website| relianceretail.com
Footnotes / references
Financials as of 31 March 2025[update].[3]

Reliance Retail is an Indian retail company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Founded in 2006, it is the largest retailer in India in terms of revenue.[4] Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries, apparel, footwear, toys, home improvement products, electronic goods, and farm implements and inputs. As of 2023,[update] it has over 245,000 employees at 18,000 store locations in 7,000 towns.[1]

As of October 2023,[update] the company is valued at $100 billion.[5][6]

## History

[edit]

Reliance Retail was established in 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, with chairman Mukesh Ambani announcing an investment of up to ₹25,000 crore (US$5.52 billion) for the new venture at Reliance's 32nd annual general meeting in June 2006.[7]

The first set of convenience stores under the name Reliance Fresh were inaugurated in Hyderabad in November 2006.[8] This was followed by entry into consumer electronics via Reliance Digital,[9] hypermarkets under Reliance Mart,[10] apparel with Reliance Trends,[11] jewellery via Reliance Jewels,[12] and footwear through Reliance Footprint, all in 2007.[13]

In 2008, Marks & Spencer established a 51:49 joint venture with Reliance Retail to open a chain of Marks & Spencer stores in India.[14] In 2011, Reliance Retail started its wholesale cash and carry chain called Reliance Market.[15]

In 2013, the company stopped retailing non-vegetarian food items and shut down its 100-plus Reliance Delight meat and seafood stores, owing to opposition from shareholders, customers and animal rights activists.[16][17] By 2014, it also closed its book and music stores called Reliance TimeOut, and furniture retailer, Reliance Living, in order to focus on value retailing and e-commerce.[18]

In 2016, Reliance Retail rebranded its hypermarket and mini-hypermarket formats–Reliance Mart and Reliance Super–under the name Reliance Smart.[19] In April 2016, it launched its online fashion retail platform called AJIO.[20]

Reliance Retail largely grew organically until 2019, when it acquired the multinational toy retailer Hamleys.[21] In December 2019, the company soft-launched its online grocery service JioMart, followed by a wide launch in May 2020 amidst the COVID-19 lockdown.[22]

In August 2020, Reliance Retail announced its acquisition of Future Group's retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing business for ₹24,713 crore (US$3.34 billion).[23] However, the deal was called off in April 2022 after a prolonged legal dispute between Future Group and Amazon.[24] Later, Reliance Retail took over more than 200 of Future Group's Big Bazaar, Central and Brand Factory outlets due to Future Group's non-payment of lease,[25] and reopened them as Smart Bazaar, Centro and Fashion Factory respectively.[26]

In October 2021, the company partnered with 7-Eleven to franchise the latter's stores in India, opening India's first 7-Eleven in Mumbai.[27] In July 2022, Reliance Retail entered a similar franchising agreement with Gap to bring Gap to India.[28]

In January 2022, Reliance Retail invested $200 million in Dunzo for a 25.8% stake.[29]

In 2022, soft drink brand Campa Cola was acquired by Reliance Industries for ₹22 crores. In March 2023, Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), the fast-moving consumer goods arm and subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), announced the relaunch of Campa Cola in three flavours at select stores.[30]

In May 2024, Jio Leasing Services Ltd (JLSL), a subsidiary of Jio Financial Services, announced that it would lease customer premises equipment, devices and telecom equipment worth $4.32 billion from Reliance Retail.[31]

In February 2025, Reliance Retail re-launched Shein in India, nearly five years after the app was banned by the Indian government due to privacy concerns.[32] This followed a 2023 partnership between Reliance Retail and Shein to source products locally from India.[33]

## Subsidiaries and divisions

[edit]

Reliance Mall, Delhi Reliance Mall, Nizamabad Inside a Reliance Smart supermarket in Ahmedabad

A Reliance Trends Woman store in Kollam.

A Hamleys store in London Metro Cash & Carry, Kolkata Reliance Centro, Pune

There are over 45 subsidiaries and divisions of Reliance Retail.[34]

### Major divisions

[edit]

No.  | Name  | Note

|
|

1  | Reliance Fresh  | Retail outlets of fruits, vegetables and groceries.[35]
2  | Reliance Smart/Smart Point  | Reliance Smart offers fresh produce, bakery, dairy products, home, and personal care products, general merchandise, fruits, vegetables, and groceries.[36]
3  | Reliance Digital | Consumer electronics retail stores. It had 689 stores in 2014.[37]
4  | Jio Stores  | Small-format connectivity retailer which sells Jio connections, phones and accessories. It had over 7,900 stores as of 2022.[38]
5  | Reliance Jewels  | Jewelry retail; it had 77 showrooms in 2018.[39]
6  | Reliance Trends  | Apparel and clothing. It had more than 2,300 stores in 2023.[40]
7  | Reliance Trends Footwear  | Footwear retail format which was known as Reliance Footprint until 2019. It had over 800 stores in 2024.[41]
8  | Reliance Market  | Cash and carry wholesale format. It had 40 stores in 2022.[42]
9  | Reliance Brands  | Licensee of foreign upmarket fashion brands. It had 595 stores and 744 shop-in-shops in 2021.[43]
10  | AJIO  | E-commerce, fashion shopping website, officially launched at the Lakme Fashion Week SS16.[44]
11  | JioMart | JioMart is the e-commerce venture of Reliance Retail that provides grocery delivery. It operates in 200 cities in India and was started as a joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms.[45]
12  | Azorte  | In 2022, Reliance Retail launched fashion stores under Azorte brand, under which it retails footwear, fashion accessories, home and beauty products.[46]
13  | Tira  | Tira is an omnichannel beauty retailer launched in April 2023.[47]

### Acquisitions

[edit]

No.  | Name  | Note

|
|

1  | Hamleys | Hamleys, one of the oldest and largest toy retailers in the world, was acquired by Reliance Retail in 2019 for £67.96 million.[48]
2  | Shri Kannan Departmental Store  | Shri Kannan Departmental Store is a retail store chain that sells fruits, vegetables, dairy, staples, home, and personal care, and general merchandise. It operates 29 stores in Coimbatore and was acquired by Reliance Retail in 2020 for ₹152.5 crore.[49]
3  | Netmeds  | Netmeds is a licensed e-pharmacy based in Chennai. In 2020, Reliance Retail acquired a 60% stake in Netmeds' parent Vitalic for approximately ₹620 crore.[50]
4  | Urban Ladder | Urban Ladder is an omnichannel furniture and decor retailer based out of Bangalore, India. In 2020, Reliance Retail acquired a 96% stake in Urban Ladder for ₹182 crore.[51][52]
5  | Addverb  | Addverb is a Noida-based robotics company in which Reliance Retail bought a 55% stake for $132 million in 2021.[53]
6  | Amante  | Amante is a retailer and wholesale distributor of lingerie in India and Sri Lanka, acquired by Reliance Retail in 2021.[54]
7  | Zivame  | Bangalore-based Zivame is an online retailer of lingerie, activewear, sleepwear and shapewear for women. In 2021, Reliance Retail acquired an 85% stake in the company for ₹1,200 crore.[55]
8  | Justdial | In 2021, Reliance Retail acquired a 66% stake in local search company Justdial for ₹5,710 crore (US$770.58 million).[56]
9  | Milkbasket  | Milkbasket is a subscription-based daily micro-delivery service. In October 2021, Reliance Retail Ventures acquired a 96.49% stake in Milkbasket.[57]
10  | Clovia  | Clovia is an Indian innerwear and loungewear company. In 2022, Reliance Retail acquired a 89% stake in the company for $125 million.[58]
11  | Metro Cash & Carry India | In December 2022, Reliance Retail acquired Metro Cash & Carry India for ₹2,850 crore (US$362.57 million). After the acquisition, Reliance Retail gained control of 31 Metro India stores which had over 3 million B2B customers.[42]
12  | V-Retail  | In 2023, Reliance Retail acquired V-Retail, a footwear and apparel retail company which operated 32 stores under the name of Centro across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.[59]
13  | Bismi  | In financial year 2023, Reliance Retail Ventures acquired Bismi, an electronics and grocery retail chain with 30 stores in Kerala.[60]
14  | Kelvinator | Reliance Retail announced the acquisition of the Kelvinator brand on July 18, 2025, marking a strategic expansion into India’s consumer durables sector.[61][62]

## Products and services

[edit]

### Private label products

[edit]

Although Reliance Retail's grocery businesses primarily markets products of third party FMCG players, they also sell inhouse brands including: Best Farms, Good Life, Enzo, Mopz, Expelz and Home One.[63][64][65]

### Fashion labels

[edit]

Reliance Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail, holds stakes in fashion labels such as Satya Paul (72%),[66] Manish Malhotra (40%),[43] and Ritu Kumar (52%).[67]

## Funding

[edit]

In September 2020, American investment firm Silver Lake bought a 1.75% stake in Reliance Retail for ₹7,500 crore[68] and KKR acquired a 1.28% stake for ₹5,500 crore valuing the company at $58 billion.[69]

In October 2020, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC bought a 1.22% stake for $752 million, while TPG acquired a 0.41% stake for $250 million, giving Reliance Retail a pre-money valuation of $58.5 billion.[70]

In August 2023, the Qatar Investment Authority invested $1 billion in Reliance Retail for a 0.99% stake in the company at a $100 billion valuation.[5] In October 2023, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority acquired a 0.59% stake in the company with an investment of nearly $600 million.[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Prabhakar, Sai (12 July 2023). "Reliance Retail: What's in store?". BusinessLine. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
2. ^ "Reliance Industries AR 2023-24" (PDF). Retrieved 8 August 2024.
3. ^ "Financial Results Presentation FY 2024-25 / 4Q FY2025" (PDF). ril.com. Reliance Industries Limited. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
4. ^ Annual Report, RIL (20 July 2020). "Reliance Retail sales cross $23 bn mark". Reliance Industries Limited. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
5. ^ a b Rosendar, Yessar. "Qatar Investment Authority Invests $1 Billion In Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail Ventures". Forbes. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
6. ^ a b Singh, Manish (6 October 2023). "Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund invests nearly $600M in Reliance Retail at $100B valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
7. ^ "RIL unveils retail plans, to pump in Rs 25,000 cr". Rediff. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
8. ^ "Reliance retail arrives in Hyderabad". Rediff. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
9. ^ "Reliance unveils Reliance Digital logo in red and blue". afaqs!. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
10. ^ "Reliance Retail to create half a million jobs". Mint. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
11. ^ Deshpande, Tejal A. (29 September 2007). "Reliance Retail plans apparel blitzkrieg". Business Standard. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
12. ^ "Reliance ventures into jewellery retail; to roll out 300 Reliance Jewels stores in 3 years". Exchange4Media. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
13. ^ Mamgain, Pramugdha (17 November 2007). "Reliance sees Rs 3,000 cr turnover in footwear biz". The Economic Times. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
14. ^ "Marks & Spencer, Reliance Retail announce JV in India". The Economic Times. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
15. ^ Mehta, Shramana Ganguly (10 June 2011). "Reliance Retail's first Cash & Carry store 'Reliance Market' to come up in Ahmedabad". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
16. ^ Karmali, Naazneen (16 December 2013). "Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail Chickens Out, Turns Vegetarian". Forbes. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
17. ^ "Opposition by Consumers, Stakeholders & Activists Prompted Closure of RIL's Delight". ETRetail.com. The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
18. ^ "Reliance exiting furniture business". BusinessLine. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
19. ^ Agarwal, Sapna (11 April 2016). "Reliance Retail looks to reinvent itself". Mint. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
20. ^ Agarwal, Sapna (2 April 2016). "Reliance Industries launches online fashion portal Ajio.com". Mint. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
21. ^ Karwa, Krishna (18 April 2019). "Another acquisition for Reliance Retail on the cards?". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
22. ^ "JioMart goes live in 200 cities after Mumbai pilot". The Times of India. 25 May 2020.
23. ^ Deb, Aparna (29 August 2020). "Reliance Retail buys Kishore Biyani's Future retail for Rs 24,713 crore". Times Now.
24. ^ Singh, Manish (23 April 2022). "Reliance calls off $3.4 billion deal with Future Group". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
25. ^ "Reliance to take over operations of 250 more Future Retail stores-sources". The Economic Times. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
26. ^ Mukherjee, Writankar (1 October 2022). "Reliance Retail to rebrand brand factory stores as fashion factory". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
27. ^ "Reliance Retail to launch first 7-Eleven store in India this week; Mukesh Ambani takes master franchise". The Financial Express. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
28. ^ Haidar, Faizan (6 July 2022). "Reliance Retail to bring fashion brand Gap to India". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
29. ^ "Reliance Retail picks up 25.8% stake in Dunzo, leads $240 mn funding". The Economic Times. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
30. ^ "Campa Cola is back: Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries relaunches iconic Campa in 3 flavours". Financialexpress. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
31. ^ Singh, Manish (24 May 2024). "Jio Financial unit to buy $4.32B of telecom gear from Reliance Retail". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
32. ^ Pandya, Dhwani (3 February 2025). "Billionaire Ambani's Reliance brings Shein back to India after 2020 app ban". Retrieved 3 May 2025.
33. ^ Zhai, Keith (19 May 2023). "Fashion Giant Shein to Diversify Supply Chain Beyond China With Indian Fabrics". WSJ. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
34. ^ "Subsidiaries of Reliance Retail Limited". ril.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
35. ^ "Few RIL retail arms still making losses". Business Standard. 11 May 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
36. ^ "Reliance Retail". relianceretail.com.
37. ^ "Reliance Retail's growth trail". The Hindu Businessline. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
38. ^ "Reliance Retail: King Of Indian Retail". Outlook. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
39. ^ "Reliance Jewels launches premium flagship showroom in Ahmedabad". Business Line. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
40. ^ Bailay, Rasul (26 July 2023). "Reliance Retail to roll out value fashion brand Yousta; plans 250 stores". India Retailing. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
41. ^ Ratna, Anagha R. (17 May 2024). "Reliance opens Trends Footwear store in Tamil Nadu". India Retailing. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
42. ^ a b Tandon, Suneera (23 December 2022). "RIL snaps up Metro's India wholesale biz". Mint. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
43. ^ a b Tandon, Suneera (16 October 2021). "RIL buys 40% in couturier Manish Malhotra's MM Styles". Mint. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
44. ^ "Reliance Retail's AJIO to start selling luxury brands". @businessline. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
45. ^ Pham, Sherisse (25 May 2020). "Mukesh Ambani's JioMart expands to 200 Indian cities in challenge to Amazon and Flipkart | CNN Business". CNN.
46. ^ Mint, The. "Reliance Retail".
47. ^ "Reliance Retail launches first beauty store Tira in Mumbai, plans to expand across 100 cities". Business Line. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
48. ^ "Reliance Brands completes acquisition of Hamleys". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
49. ^ "Reliance Retail acquires Shri Kannan Departmental Store for ₹152.5 crore". BusinessLine. 5 March 2020.
50. ^ Sharma, Samidha; Peermohamed, Alnoor. "Reliance retail acquires majority stake in Netmeds' parent for Rs 620 crore". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
51. ^ "Reliance Retail acquires Urban Ladder for ₹182 crore – at a sixth of the startup's peak valuation in 2018". Business Insider. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
52. ^ Singh, Manish (November 15, 2020). "Reliance Retail buys Urban Ladder for $24.4 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
53. ^ "Reliance Retail acquires about 55% stake in Addverb Technologies: RIL". Business Standard. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
54. ^ "Reliance Retail acquires 'amante' from MAS Holdings". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
55. ^ Singh, Manish (20 March 2020). "Why Reliance is betting big on lingerie; influencers' incomes on the rise".
56. ^ "Reliance Retail buys Just Dial for Rs 5,710 crore". The Times of India. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
57. ^ Baruah, Rituraj (23 October 2021). "Reliance Retail Completes Milkbasket Acquisition". Inc42 Media. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
58. ^ Singh, Manish (20 March 2022). "Reliance Retail acquires majority stake in D2C brand Clovia for $125 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
59. ^ "Reliance Retail acquires footwear retailer V Retail". The Times of India. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
60. ^ Mukherjee, Writankar (26 September 2022). "Reliance Retail set to acquire Kerala's Bismi". The Economic Times. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
61. ^ "Reliance Retail acquires Kelvinator to boost consumer durables business".
62. ^ "Reliance Retail Acquires Kelvinator: Forging a New Era in India's Consumer Durables Market" (PDF). www.ril.com. 18 July 2025.
63. ^ "Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail plans to sell in-house brands in kirana stores". www.businesstoday.in. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
64. ^ Pathak, Kalpana (29 July 2019). "RIL plans a big push for private-label brands". mint. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
65. ^ Pathak, Kalpana (25 May 2020). "For Reliance Retail's JioMart, private labels are the way to go". mint. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
66. ^ "Reliance buys additional stake in Future101, Genesis Colors". The Economic Times. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
67. ^ Bailay, Rasul (19 October 2021). "Reliance Retail acquires a controlling stake in designer Ritu Kumar's company". The Economic Times. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
68. ^ Dsouza, Sharleen (11 September 2020). "Brokerage view on Silver Lake investment in Reliance retail". Bloomberg Quint. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
69. ^ "KKR-Reliance Retail deal: American buyout firm to invest Rs 5,550 crore for 1.28% in RIL unit". Moneycontrol. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
70. ^ "Singapore's GIC and TPG to invest over $1 billion in Reliance Retail". TechCrunch. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Reliance Industries

Energy|

* Reliance Petroleum
* Jamnagar Refinery
* Reliance Industrial Infrastructure
* Reliance Solar
* Renewable Energy Corporation
* Jio-bp

Jio Platforms|

* Haptik
* Jio
* JioTV
* JioCinema
* JioSaavn
* Radisys

Reliance Retail|

* Reliance Digital
* LYF
* AJIO
* JioMart
* Urban Ladder
* Hamleys
* Justdial

Financial services|

* Jio Financial Services
* Jio Payments Bank

Media|

* Network18 Group
* Viacom18
* DEN Networks
* Hathway
* Firstpost

Others|

* Alok Industries
* SkyTran

Former holdings|

* East West Gas Pipeline (India)

Education|

* Dhirubhai Ambani International School

Sports|

* Mumbai Indians
* Mumbai Indians (WPL)
* MI Cape Town
* MI Emirates
* MI New York

* Football Sports Development Limited
* Indian Super League
* Reliance Foundation Development League
* Reliance Foundation Youth Sports
* Reliance Stadium

Healthcare|

* Relicord
* Reliance Institute of Life Sciences
* Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital
* Covid-19 Hospital in Mumbai

Philanthropy|

* Reliance Foundation

People|

| Current|

* Mukesh Ambani
* Isha Ambani
* Anant Ambani
* Alok Agarwal
* PMS Prasad
* Y. P. Trivedi
* Dipak C. Jain
* Raghunath A. Mashelkar
* Adil Zainulbhai
* Nita Ambani
* Arundhati Bhattacharya
* K. V. Chowdary
* Parimal Nathwani
* Anand Jain

|

Former|

* Dhirubhai Ambani
* Ashish Chauhan
* Urjit Patel
* Vivek Lall

see also: Template:Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template