RELIANCE

March 13 (Reuters) - Neurizer Ltd NRZ.AX:

• CHAIRMANS LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

• TO ACCELERATE NEURIZER UREA PROJECT AT LEIGH CREEK AFTER RELIANCE INDUSTRIES AGREEMENTS

• CO AND RELIANCE INDUSTRIES SIGN LETTERS OF AWARD FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND PLANT SALE

Further company coverage: NRZ.AX

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Refiles to fix date in dateline to March 12

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, March 12 (Reuters) - The Iran war is rattling India's $5 billion packaged water market just ahead of the sweltering summer season.

One of the world's fastest growing bottled water markets is seeing some manufacturers hike prices for distributors, as supply disruptions linked to the war fuel higher costs in everything from plastic bottles to caps, labels and cardboard boxes.

Though retail prices are yet to feel the heat and bigger companies are absorbing the pain, about 2,000 smaller bottled water makers have increased rates for their resellers by around 1 rupee per bottle, a 5% hike, which will rise by a further 10% in coming days, according to the Federation of All India Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers' Association.

Consumers usually pay less than 20 rupees, or around 20 U.S. cents, for a one-litre bottle.

"There is chaos and within the next 4-5 days, this will start impacting customer prices," said Apurva Doshi, the federation's secretary general.

Rising oil prices have increased the cost of polymer, which is made from crude oil and is a key material for the industry's plastic bottles.

The cost of material used in making plastic bottles has risen by 50% to 170 rupees per kilogram, while the price of the caps has more than doubled to 0.45 rupees apiece. Even corrugated boxes, labels and adhesive tape are costing much more, industry letters showed.

Clean water is a privilege in the country of 1.4 billion people where researchers say 70% of the groundwater is contaminated, leaving people reliant on bottled water. Companies including Bisleri, Coca-Cola's KO.N Kinley, Pepsi's PEP.O Aquafina, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance RELI.NS and Tata all compete for a share of the $5 billion market.

The companies did not respond to Reuters request for comment.

PREMIUM WATER FACES HEAT TOO

Within the broad bottled water market, natural mineral water is a $400 million business in India and a new, fast-growing wellness product for India's wealthy.

The premium water segment accounted for 8% of the bottled water market last year in India, compared to just 1% in 2021, Euromonitor says.

Aava, which sells mineral water sourced from the foothills of the Aravalli mountains, has increased prices of its water bottles by 18% for resellers, Shiroy Mehta, CEO of the company, told Reuters.

"Most manufacturers are absorbing 40-50% of the cost to ensure that they don't lose clients. It's a poor situation for the beverage industry ahead of the summer season," he said.

The mass market, however, is dominated by companies that produce "drinking water" to be sold in 1-litre bottles to customers.

Clear Premium Water, a brand of India's Energy Beverages, said in a notice to its distributors there had been an "unprecedented and continuous surge" in prices of key raw materials used in packaging and production.

"It is no longer possible for us to absorb the escalating costs while maintaining existing product prices," the notice said.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

((Email: [email protected]; X: @adityakalra;))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, March 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India's hunger for energy imports remains its Achilles heel. Pair that with a war roiling the petro-states of the Gulf, home to some 10 million Indian expatriates who account for 38% of the country's inward remittances, and it's easy to see why the U.S.-Israel war against Iran has put the world's fifth-largest economy on edge.

Opposition politicians jeered Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's foreign minister, on Monday during his speech in parliament on the conflict after crude shot up to $119 a barrel and the Indian rupee hit a fresh low of 92.35 against the U.S. dollar. It was already the worst-performing major Asian currency in 2025.

There will be limited relief from Washington's green light for Indian companies including Reliance Industries RELI.NS to buy otherwise-sanctioned Russian oil. Juicy discounts on that supply narrowed long ago, and now there will be more competition from other buyers.

And in a situation of very limited supply, India's stockpile can only meet its needs for 25 days, per a Reuters report citing refining sources. India's demand for liquefied natural gas is a problem too. It imports 80% of its needs from the Middle East. New Delhi on Tuesday curbed supply to industries, a day after extending waiting periods for cooking gas.

India has multiple levers it can pull to shield consumers from any price shock. New Delhi can ask state-backed fuel retailers like Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS and Indian Oil IOC.NS to absorb the increased cost. At a pinch, the government could cut excise duties, albeit at the cost of a wider budget gap. Inflation in India is also low: retail prices grew 2.75% year-on-year in January.

Protecting the rupee, however, is harder. Bigger fiscal deficits in national accounts will hurt. India's central bank intervened on Monday to stem the currency's slide. Though the price of oil receded to $92 per barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the war would be over "very soon", it remains volatile. If it held at $100 per barrel for three months, India’s current account deficit could rise to 2% of GDP from the baseline assumption of 1.6%, according to Gaura Sengupta, an economist at IDFC First Bank. That would be close to the 2.3% level clocked in 2008-09, soon after the global financial crisis.

India's currency is already suffering from weak net foreign direct investment and capital outflows, in part because of worries about the threat new artificial intelligence tools pose to India's services exports. A prolonged war in the Middle East will really grease the rupee's problems.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

India does not expect inflation to rise substantially from a jump in global crude oil prices triggered by the war in the ​Middle East, as domestic price levels remain near the lower end ‌of the central bank's tolerance band, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on March 9.

The Indian rupee fell to an all-time low of 92.3475 against the U.S. dollar on the same day, as surging crude prices sparked concerns over growth and ​inflation in the world's fifth-largest economy.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the opening of an oil refinery in Brownsville, Texas, saying it was a $300 billion deal and thanking Indian energy company Reliance for its investment.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; editing by Costas Pitas)

(([email protected]; +12024508248;))

Adds details throughout

March 9 (Reuters) - Indian refiners slumped on Monday as a widening U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed Brent crude to a nearly four-year high, threatening their near-term earnings and raising the risk of further government intervention.

State-run Indian Oil IOC.NS dipped 4.6%, Hindustan Petroleum HPCL.NS slid 4.9% and Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS dropped 5.4%, with BPCL heading for its steepest fall since June 2024.

The rout dragged the Nifty oil and gas index .NIFOILGAS down 2.7% and the energy index .NIFTYENR 2.1% lower, while the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI slid 2.8%. The oil and gas index has fallen 6.6% since the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran last week.

India's top refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS was down 0.4% after slipping 2.5% earlier.

UBS said Indian oil marketing companies are exposed to the crude spike because their fuel sales far exceed their production - roughly double for IOC and BPCL, and even more for HPCL.

The brokerage downgraded IOC and BPCL to "neutral" and HPCL to "sell" from "buy".

It also reduced fiscal 2027 profit estimates by 19% for IOC, 15% for BPCL and 46% for HPCL.

RISKS OF PROLONGED CONFLICT

Oil prices surged about 26% to $119.5 per barrel - the highest since July 2022 - as some major producers cut supplies and fears ​of prolonged shipping disruptions gripped the market.

Iraq and Kuwait have begun reducing oil output, adding to earlier liquefied natural gas (LNG) cuts from Qatar as the war disrupted shipments out of the Middle East.

Citi on Monday warned refiners' earnings will hinge on how long the geopolitical shock persists, flagging risks from any potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz and shutdowns in Qatar's LNG output - each supplying roughly half of India's crude and LNG needs.

India, the world's second-biggest importer of LPG, consumed 33.15 million metric tons of the cooking gas last year, with imports meeting about two-thirds of demand. Middle Eastern suppliers account for 85%-90% of India's LPG inflows.

New Delhi on Friday invoked emergency powers directing refiners to maximise liquefied petroleum gas production to prevent a cooking-gas shortage following supply disruptions.

Prolonged turmoil could force additional government intervention, including export curbs, duties on refined products or direct budgetary support, Citi added.

Meanwhile, Indian companies raised LPG prices for the first time in about a year on Friday, tracking global benchmarks as the war crimps flows from the Middle East.

India imports more than 80% of its crude oil needs and is the world's third largest oil importer.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

(([email protected]; 8800437922; [email protected];))

Adds U.S. Treasury license in paragraph 2, Treasury Secretary comments in paragraphs 3-5

By Nidhi Verma, Jarrett Renshaw and Steve Holland

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - Indian refiners are buying millions of barrels of prompt Russian crude oil cargoes as the South Asian nation seeks to navigate an oil supply crunch triggered by the Middle East conflict, six sources familiar with the matter said.

After months of Washington pressuring New Delhi to avoid buying Russian barrels in an effort to reduce money flowing to Moscow's war effort in Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a 30-day waiver on Thursday allowing India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea.

"To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

"This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea," he said in a statement.

He called it a stopgap measure, as Washington expects India to eventually buy more U.S. oil.

India is vulnerable to energy supply shocks, with crude stocks covering only about 25 days of demand. India gets about 40% of its oil imports from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz.

India was the top buyer of Russian seaborne crude after Moscow's 2022 Ukraine invasion, but in January, its refiners started to reduce purchases under pressure from Washington.

Cutting Russian oil purchases helped New Delhi avoid 25% tariffs and clinch an interim trade deal with the U.S.

It is unclear whether the United States has allowed India to increase Russian purchases to offset potential Middle Eastern supply losses.

A source directly involved with the matter said India had approached U.S. President Donald Trump's administration seeking approval to buy Russian crude imports due to the Iran conflict.

India's oil and foreign ministries did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comments. The White House and the U.S. Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

State refiners Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS, Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd MRPL.NS are talking to traders for prompt delivery of Russian cargoes, according to the Reuters sources.

One of the sources said Indian state refiners have bought about 20 million barrels of Russian oil from traders so far.

HPCL and MRPL last received Russian oil in November, according to data obtained from industry sources.

The traders are selling Russian Urals to India at a premium of $4-$5 per barrel to Brent on a delivered basis for arrival at Indian ports in March and early April, three of the sources said.

This is in contrast to a discount of about $13 per barrel for cargoes traded in February, traders said.

HPCL had bought two cargoes of Russian oil at a $13 discount before the war started on February 28.

"India refiners are back in the market ... nowadays more than prices, availability of molecules is the issue," said one of the traders involved in Russian oil sales to India.

This source said Reliance Industries RELI.NS also approached his company for the purchase of prompt Russian oil cargoes.

Refiners in India had already started tapping Russian oil aboard vessels floating off the country's coast to make up for the loss of Middle Eastern crude, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said earlier in the day.

Indian refiners did not immediately respond to Reuters emails sent out after business hours.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Jarrett Renshaw and Steve Holland in Washington and additional reporting by Ismail Shakil; Editing by David Gregorio and Sonali Paul)

(([email protected]; X: @nidhi712;))

Updates for markets close

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

BENGALURU, March 5 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Thursday, snapping a three-session losing run, led by gains in Reliance and metal stocks while tracking a recovery in global risk appetite after a heavy selloff triggered by the Middle East crisis.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI rose 1.17% to 24,765.90 and the BSE Sensex .BSESN added 1.14% to 80,015.90.

The benchmarks had fallen about 4% each since Friday, with the decline this week triggered by the U.S.-Israel assault on Iran, which sent oil prices higher and kindled inflation concerns.

MSCI's broadest index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 2.6%, after sliding 8.6% over the past three sessions. MKTS/GLOB

Back home, 15 of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 added 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively.

Nifty heavyweight Reliance Industries RELI.NS rose 3.3% after losing about 4.5% over the last three sessions, with brokerages JM Financial and CLSA saying that the recent correction in the stock was overdone.

"Today's market uptick is a temporary bounce, driven largely by Reliance rebounding from its sharp recent slide. As an index heavyweight, its snapback did most of the heavy lifting for the benchmarks," said Anita Gandhi, head of institutional business at Arihant Capital Markets.

Gains in Reliance powered energy .NIFTYENR and oil and gas .NIFOILGAS indexes 1.9% and 1.6% higher, respectively.

About 2,210 of the 3,336 stocks in the NSE universe advanced, outweighing the decline in 1,039 stocks.

"(Today's rise) is more due to attractive valuations after the recent selloff and on easing fears of any immediate squeeze on crude supply after the U.S. President's comments that crude flows will be protected," Gandhi said, adding that uncertainty in the markets is likely to persist due to the conflict.

Crude oil prices LCOc1 rose 1.9% to $82.9 per barrel as of 15:30 IST. Higher oil prices are typically negative for India, the world's third-largest crude importer. O/R

Among individual stocks, Hindalco Industries HALC.NS and National Aluminium NALC.NS jumped 3.6% and 6%, leading the metal index .NIFTYMET 2.3% higher, on rising aluminium prices due to supply concerns. This was after Aluminium Bahrain ALBH.BH halted shipments as the Strait of Hormuz faced a near-total shipping freeze. MET/L

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Sonia Cheema and Harikrishnan Nair)

(([email protected]))

Adds graphic, context and data in paragraphs 7-13

By Marianna Parraga

March 3 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil exports fell 6.5% in February from a month earlier to some 737,000 barrels per day as more shipments to the United States and Europe could not fully offset the loss of what had been the OPEC country's main market, China, according to vessel monitoring data and documents from state company PDVSA.

Washington has controlled the South American nation's oil exports since early January, when U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Trading houses Trafigura and Vitol and U.S. producer Chevron CVX.N are now exporting the lion's share of Venezuela's barrels under U.S. authorizations.

Even as Chevron and the traders sent more cargoes to the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean last month, the increase was not enough to compensate for a 67% decline in exports to Asia, which averaged some 48,000 bpd, compared with 145,000 bpd in January and more than 600,000 bpd last year.

A lack of very large crude carriers to transport bigger cargoes also limited exports from Venezuela, whose main oil port, Jose, handles about 70% of total shipments, creating a need for larger vessels to cut down loading times.

Overall, oil exports in February were 6.5% lower than in January and stood 19% below the same month of 2025. The trading houses exported a total of 26.9 million barrels since they began marketing and shipping the country's crude and fuel last month, according to the data, of some 40 million barrels sold so far under U.S. oversight.

Venezuela's direct exports to the U.S. rose 32% to about 375,000 bpd, while shipments to Europe increased ninefold to 158,000 bpd, with Spain's Repsol REP.MC leading purchases in that region.

Chevron's exports to its own refineries and to others in the U.S. and elsewhere fell 5% to 209,000 bpd in February. The U.S. major, which is the main partner of state company PDVSA, last month sold its first cargo of Venezuelan heavy crude to India's refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS since 2023, which could soon lead to larger exports.

With at least half a dozen supertankers navigating to Venezuela to pick up cargoes, exports are expected to accelerate in March, particularly to India, the data showed.

Venezuela's oil exports averaged 847,000 bpd last year, with China taking three quarters of the total. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the Asian country can buy Venezuelan oil but at fair market prices.

The U.S.-Iran conflict and fresh licenses granted by the U.S. Treasury Department in recent weeks also are expected to expand the pool of companies exporting and refining Venezuelan oil, which could lead to cargoes reaching new destinations.

Faster exports could help drain inventories, which remained high at the end of February at 12.7 million barrels in Jose, the second highest monthly level since 2025, and 26 million barrels in the country, according to data from consultancy Kpler.

Venezuela's imports of naphtha both for diluting its extra heavy oil and for producing gasoline rose to 105,000 bpd, from 32,000 bpd the previous month, the shipping data showed.

The country's crude production increased to some 1.05 million bpd in early March, from 878,000 bpd in early January amid oil output cuts, according to independent figures.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Reuters staff; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Bill Berkrot)

(([email protected]; +1 713 371 7559; Reuters Messaging: @mariannaparraga))

** Reliance Industries' RELI.NS new businesses, such as battery manufacturing, set to meaningfully contribute to FY earnings from current fiscal year, JP Morgan says

** Adds new businesses expected to become significant EBITDA driver over next 3-4 years

** Notes co's battery packs, including 5 kWh and 10 kWh systems, could see large-scale adoption once production ramps up

** Maintains "overweight", with PT of 1,675 rupees, saying manufacturing ramp-up, commissioning remain key catalysts for growth

** RELI down 0.9% at 1,394.20 rupees; Nifty 50 .NSEI trading 0.4% lower

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 1,702 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, RELI down 11.3%

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

HOUSTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. oil major Chevron CVX.N has sold its first cargo of Venezuelan crude oil to India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS since December 2023, according to ship tracking data and two sources.

Chevron CVX.N negotiated the Boscan crude cargo to Reliance this month, marking the first sale of the heavy oil, which is used in asphalt making, in about six years, according to the data and sources.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar and Marianna Parraga in Houston)

(([email protected]; +1 832 610 7346; X: @ArathySom; https://www.linkedin.com/in/arathy-somasekhar-b7724371/))

Updates for mid-day trade

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Indian share benchmarks overcame initial jitters and rose by the mid-day trading session on Friday, as heavyweight stocks clawed back some of the previous session's losses.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI added 0.54% to 25,592.6, and the BSE Sensex .BSESN rose 0.48% to 82,897.3, as of 12:11 p.m. IST. They had fallen about 0.3% at the open, extending a 1.5% decline in the previous session, their steepest single-day drop in over two weeks.

Fifteen of the 16 major sectors traded higher. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 added 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

"What we are seeing today is more of a tactical bounce from Nifty 50's 200-day simple moving average (SMA) of around 25,300 points," said Naveen Vyas, head of family office at Anand Rathi Global Finance.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries RELI.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS rose 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively, on Friday, after a 2.2% and 1.4% drop in the previous session.

Meanwhile, the volatility index - a measure of the market's expected volatility for the next 30 days - spiked this week to 14.36, just shy of an eight-month high hit in the run-up to the federal budget on February 1.

This comes after Brent crude oil prices rose to $72 per barrel amid tensions in the Middle East. Higher crude prices are a negative for India as it is the world's third-largest crude oil importer. O/R

"We are still not out of the woods. If Brent crude surpasses $75 per barrell and stays at that level for a couple of months, that could put further pressure on Indian equities," said Vyas.

The IT index .NIFTYIT was the sole loser among major sectors, down 0.5% as ongoing concerns over the impact of AI-linked disruption on earnings continued to weigh.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Harikrishnan Nair)

(([email protected];))

Rewrites with details of AI investments

By Chandini Monnappa, Surbhi Misra and Urvi Dugar

BENGALURU, Feb 19 (Reuters) - India's biggest conglomerates are stepping up a push into AI and data infrastructure, with Reliance RELI.NS committing about $110 billion and Adani ADEL.NS pledging $100 billion to position the nation as an emerging hub for AI development.

While the sum is modest against the more than $630 billion U.S. tech giants are expected to spend this year, India is offering tax breaks for foreign firms operating from domestic data centres, along with measures to lure more AI talent.

"Our resolve is clear: make intelligence as ubiquitous as connectivity," said billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance, arguing that cheaper computing will spur innovation.

His company wants to bring to AI the same playbook it used to disrupt the telecom market in 2016 by slashing data prices and expanding access.

News of the plans come as top executives gathered in New Delhi for a major summit, amid rising investment from Google GOOGL.O, Amazon AMZN.O, Meta Platforms META.O and Microsoft MSFT.O in India's AI and cloud ecosystem.

Reliance and Adani benefit from renewable‑powered data centres, as their own energy assets cut reliance on costly grid power. Putting facilities next to power plants cuts transmission losses and shields them from rising electricity prices.

"With their backward integration, renewable‑powered data centres are simply the cheapest option for them in the long run," said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst.

BETTING ON DATA CENTRES

India has played only a limited role in the global AI boom so far, as it lacks large‑scale chip manufacturing, making data centres its most viable entry point into the fast‑growing infrastructure market.

Reliance unit Jio is developing multi‑gigawatt, AI‑ready data centres, including a facility in the western city of Jamnagar that is expected to add more than 120 megawatts of capacity in the second half of this year.

Separately, Adani Enterprises said on Tuesday it planned to invest $100 billion by 2035 to build data centres that are AI‑enabled and renewable‑powered.

Reliance seeks to build a fully integrated AI stack in India, but execution and monetisation remain key risks, said Aishvarya Dadheech, founder and chief investment officer at Fident Asset Management.

($1=91.0870 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa, Surbhi Misra and Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Christopher Cushing, Dhanya Skariachan)

(([email protected]; https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandini-monnappa-8a37b013b/;))

By Praveen Paramasivam and Chandini Monnappa

MUMBAI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Indian salon chain Naturals remains in talks with Reliance RELI.NS over a potential stake sale, but discussions have slowed as the two sides have yet to agree on a deal structure, co-founder C.K. Kumaravel said in an interview.

Naturals plans to go public by 2028 if negotiations with Reliance don't bear fruit, Kumaravel told Reuters on the sidelines of a Retailers Association of India event in Mumbai.

Talks, first announced in late 2022, stalled after Reliance sought a 51% stake, while Naturals was prepared to sell only 49%, so as to retain control for a few more years before considering a larger divestment, he said.

"Even if it takes time, Naturals is not in a hurry, as Reliance will add significant value," Kumaravel said, confirming that the company is not in talks with other investors.

Reliance did not respond to a request for comment.

With about 900 outlets, Naturals is one of India's largest organised salon chains, ahead of peers such as Lakme and Geetanjali Salon, in a market otherwise dominated by unorganised players.

It reported gross merchandise value of 4.5 billion rupees ($49.64 million) in fiscal 2025 and expects that figure to rise to 6  billion rupees this financial year.

India's $10.8 billion beauty salon market is expanding as younger consumers spend more on grooming, while rising incomes and higher participation of women in the workforce lift demand, according to consultancy Ken Research.

The chain plans to add 100 salons this year, including in Pune, focusing on dense clusters rather than scattered locations.

A stake in Naturals would give Reliance an entry into the salon and spa services, complementing its beauty retail play through Tira, as Indian consumers increasingly splurge on makeup and skincare.

($1 = 90.6580 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Chandini Monnappa in Mumbai; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Dhanya Skariachan)

(([email protected]; +91 867-525-3569;))

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES - RELIANCE CONSUMER PRODUCTS PARTNERS WITH NIGERIA’S LEADING BUSINESS TGI GROUP

Source text: ID:nnAZN4SGYOA

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

(([email protected];;))

By Nidhi Verma and Jarrett Renshaw

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The United States has issued a general licence to India's Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS that will allow the refiner to buy Venezuelan oil directly without violating sanctions, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, U.S. officials said Washington would ease sanctions imposed on Venezuela's energy industry to facilitate a $2 billion oil supply deal between Caracas and Washington and an ambitious $100 billion reconstruction plan for the country's oil industry.

A general licence authorises the purchase, exportation, and sale of Venezuelan-origin oil that has already been extracted, including the refining of such oil.

Handing a licence to Reliance could speed up Venezuela's oil exports and reduce crude costs for the operator of the world's biggest refining complex.

Reliance, which applied for the licence in early January, did not respond to an email request for comment. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control did not immediately respond outside of regular business hours.

VENEZUELAN OIL TO REPLACE RUSSIAN SUPPLY

Earlier this month, Reliance bought 2 million barrels of Venezuelan oil from trader Vitol, which was granted, along with Trafigura, U.S. licences to market and sell millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil after Maduro's capture.

Direct purchase of Venezuelan oil will help Reliance replace Russian oil in a cost-effective way, as heavy crude from Caracas is sold at a discount, said one of the sources.

President Donald Trump earlier this month removed a 25% punitive tariff on India and said New Delhi would buy more oil from the U.S. and potentially Venezuela.

Indian refiners, including Reliance, are avoiding Russian oil purchases for delivery in April and are expected to stay away from such trades for longer, refining and trade sources said, a move that could help New Delhi seal a trade pact with Washington.

The conglomerate used to be a regular buyer of Venezuelan oil for its advanced refining complex, but had to stop purchases in early 2025 due to U.S. sanctions. Reliance operates two refineries with a combined capacity of about 1.4 million barrels per day.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Florence Tan and Saad Sayeed)

(([email protected]; X: @nidhi712;))

Adds details in paragraph 2,6-7, background in paragraphs 8-12

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - India's state refiners Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS and Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS have together bought 2 million barrels of Merey crude from Venezuela for delivery in the second half of April, two trade sources aware of the deal said.

The crude will be carried on a single very large crude carrier with IOC taking about 1.5 million barrels and HPCL about 500,000 barrels and is set to arrive on India's east coast, the sources said, adding the seller was Trafigura.

The purchase highlights Indian refiners' effort to diversify their imports to partly replace Russian oil, which they are avoiding to help New Delhi seal a trade deal with Washington. CRU/TENDA

The purchase of Venezuelan oil is the first by HPCL, with IOC, the country's top refiner, having previously bought Venezuelan oil in 2024, data compiled by Reuters shows.

Indian companies do not comment on spot tenders due to confidentiality agreements. Trafigura declined to comment.

HPCL said in January it was seeking Venezuelan oil to process at its 300,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Visakhapatnam in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, which was recently upgraded to process heavy oil. IOC previously processed Merey at its Paradip refinery in the eastern state of Odisha.

The Merey is priced against the Dubai benchmark and reflects similar rates at which Reliance Industries RELI.NS bought Venezuelan oil from trader Vitol, said one of the two trade sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity.

Reliance, the operator of the world's biggest refining complex, bought 2 million barrels of Venezuelan oil for April delivery from Vitol at a discount of around $6.50-$7 per barrel to ICE Brent, sources previously told Reuters.

Vitol and Trafigura were granted U.S. licences to sell Venezuelan oil after last month's U.S. military operation to capture President Nicolas Maduro .

Oil refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast are struggling to absorb a rapid increase in Venezuelan shipments, leaving some volumes unsold, according to traders and shipping data.

The U.S. and India have moved closer to a trade pact , announcing a framework for a deal they hope to conclude by March that would lower tariffs and deepen economic cooperation.

Although a U.S.-India statement on the trade framework did not mention Russian oil, President Donald Trump rescinded his 25% tariffs on Indian goods, imposed over Russian oil purchases, because, he said, New Delhi had "committed to stop directly or indirectly" importing Russian oil.

New Delhi has not officially announced plans to halt Russian oil imports.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Christian Schmollinger)

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Repeats story with no changes to text

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Indian refiners are avoiding Russian oil purchases for delivery in April and are expected to stay away from such trades for longer, refining and trade sources said, a move that could help New Delhi seal a trade pact with Washington.

The U.S. and India moved closer to a trade pact on Friday, announcing a framework for a deal they hope to conclude by March that would lower tariffs and deepen economic cooperation.

Indian Oil IOC.NS, Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS and Reliance Industries RELI.NS are not accepting offers from traders for Russian oil loading in March and April, said a trader who approached the refiners.

These refiners, however, had already scheduled some deliveries of Russian oil in March, refining sources said. Most other refiners have stopped buying Russian crude.

TRUMP SAYS INDIA 'COMMITTED' TO HALTING PURCHASES

The three refiners and the oil ministry did not respond to requests for comment. The trade minister on Saturday referred questions about Russian oil to the foreign ministry.

A foreign ministry spokesperson said: "Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy" to ensure energy security for the world's most-populous nation.

Although a U.S.-India statement on the trade framework did not mention Russian oil, President Donald Trump rescinded his 25% tariffs on Indian goods, imposed over Russian oil purchases, because, he said, New Delhi had "committed to stop directly or indirectly" importing Russian oil.

New Delhi has not announced plans to halt Russian oil imports.

India became the top buyer of discounted Russian seaborne crude after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, spurring a backlash from Western nations that had targeted Russia's energy sector with sanctions aimed at curtailing Moscow's revenue and making it harder to fund the war.

INDIA'S RUSSIAN-OIL IMPORTS A FRACTION OF 2025 LEVELS

One regular Indian buyer is Russia-backed private refiner Nayara, which relies solely on Russian oil for its 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery. Sources said Nayara may be allowed to keep buying Russian oil because other crude sellers pulled back after the European Union sanctioned the refiner in July.

Nayara also does not plan to import Russian crude in April due to a month-long refinery maintenance shutdown, a source familiar with its operations said.

Nayara did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Indian refiners may change their plan and place orders for Russian oil only if advised by the government, sources said.

Trump's order said U.S. officials would monitor and recommend reinstating the tariffs if India resumed oil procurement from Russia.

Sources said last month that India was preparing to cut Russian oil imports below 1 million bpd by March, with volumes eventually falling to 500,000–600,000 bpd, compared with an average 1.7 million bpd last year. India's Russian oil imports topped 2 million bpd in mid-2025.

The intake of Russian oil by India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer and importer, declined to its lowest level in two years in December, data from trade and industry sources show.

Indian refiners have been buying more oil from Middle Eastern, African and South American countries as they scale back Russian oil purchases.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by William Mallard)

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Feb 5 (Reuters) -

• INDIA'S RELIANCE INDUSTRIES BUYS 2 MILLION BARRELS OF VENEZUELAN OIL FROM TRADER VITOL FOR APRIL DELIVERY -TRADERS

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

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Adds background, J.P. Morgan note, Russian foreign ministry's comments in paragraphs 2, 7-8

Feb 4 (Reuters) - India's Russian oil imports slipped in January, continuing a downturn that began in December, as refiners sought more alternative barrels under Western sanctions pressure and ongoing U.S.–India trade talks, Reuters sources said and data showed.

Analysts and traders have said Moscow faces a steep decline in oil and gas revenue, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the Russian government's budget revenue, if Washington succeeds in persuading India to stop importing Russia's oil.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with India to cut tariffs to 18% from 50% in exchange for New Delhi halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.

Indian refiners have been redrawing crude import strategies in recent months to shift away from top supplier Russia and boost imports from the Middle East.

India imported 1.215 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude in January, of which the Nayara refinery accounted for 0.41 million bpd, with IOC and BPCL taking 0.58 million bpd and 0.19 million bpd, respectively, while Reliance imported no Russian crude last month, according to provisional data from analytics firm Kpler.

India's Russian oil imports in January were down by some 12% on a daily basis from December, Reuters calculations showed. Those oil imports in December dropped about 22% from November to 1.38 million barrels per day.

"Our base case is that India will largely exit from sanctioned counterparties, but will maintain Russian imports at around 0.8–1.0 million bpd, accounting for 17–21% of total crude imports," J.P. Morgan said in a note.

RUSSIA UPBEAT ABOUT OIL TRADE WITH INDIA

Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it had no reason to believe that India had reconsidered its approach to Russian oil imports following a trade deal that New Delhi struck with the U.S.

Indian refiners have not been told by the government to stop buying Russian oil and would need a wind-down period to complete purchases already in process, two refining sources said on Tuesday, following the trade deal with Washington.

India's Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world's largest refining complex, will buy up to 150,000 barrels per day of Russian oil from February for its domestic market-focused refinery, a company executive said last week.

The country's largest refiner overall, Indian Oil Corp, has committed to buying more Brazilian crude in the fiscal year starting April, after reducing Russian oil imports.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Paul Simao)

The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters

By Ron Bousso

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s push to channel U.S. and Venezuelan crude oil into India as part of a broad trade deal will run up against the hard reality of global oil economics.

The U.S. president and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced the trade deal following lengthy and often tense negotiations, though details remain limited.

Under the deal, the U.S. cut its tariff on imports of Indian goods to 18% from 25% while Modi committed to buy more than $500 billion-worth of U.S. energy, technology, agricultural and other products, Trump said in a social media post.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer, also agreed to stop buying Russian oil and to buy “much more” oil from the U.S. and potentially Venezuela, Trump said.

The trade deal appears to advance two key White House objectives.

First, the administration wants to revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry after Washington took effective control of the country’s crumbling oil sector, following the U.S. seizure of President Nicolas Maduro last month.

Second, Trump aims to tighten pressure on Moscow by squeezing Russian crude out of Asia, one of the country’s last major markets after Western sanctions were imposed on its exports that help to fund Russia's war in Ukraine.

The deal thus underscores Trump’s readiness to intervene in markets and use U.S. geopolitical muscle to pursue his strategic goals - but the president may find that markets won't play ball.

THE LIMITS OF VENEZUELA’S OIL

The U.S. and the interim Venezuelan government have taken several steps towards reviving the country's dilapidated energy sector. Those steps include agreeing to sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuela crude, mostly to U.S. refiners; changing the country's hydrocarbon laws to attract foreign investment; and easing some sanctions on Caracas’s oil exports.

Asia might initially appear to be a natural partner in this endeavour. China accounted for over half of Venezuela's crude exports last year as independent refiners mopped up the heavily discounted oil facing U.S. sanctions. India, previously a major buyer, only cut off its purchases after Trump in March imposed a 25% tariff on countries buying Venezuelan oil.

But despite Trump’s latest effort, Venezuelan crude is unlikely to play a dominant role in Asia’s refinery system any time soon – particularly India’s.

For one thing, Venezuelan production remains limited at around 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) and will take months, if not years, to recover. Exports jumped to about 800,000 bpd in January from 498,000 bpd in December, shipping data showed, after Maduro's capture and the end of an oil blockade. But state-run energy company PDVSA's partners and traders would need to keep exports rising to draw down millions of barrels still in storage and fully reverse earlier output cuts.

The bigger issue, however, is simple economics. Venezuelan oil was only attractive to Asian buyers because it was sanctioned – and thus sold at steep discounts.

When several cargoes of heavy-grade Venezuelan crude were recently offered to Asia buyers at a $5 per barrel discount to global benchmark Brent futures LCOc1, the buyers balked. Traders said the markdown was not enough to make the heavy sulfurous crude competitive with other grades.

Unless Venezuela sharply ramps up its output to the point that U.S. refiners cannot absorb the excess volumes, leading Venezuelan producers to offer larger discounts, Asia will likely remain a marginal market for Caracas.

India is also unlikely to be a major buyer of U.S. oil anytime soon. The country's price-sensitive buyers purchased an average of only 320,000 bpd of U.S. oil last year, the equivalent of around $7.5 billion. Significantly increasing that appears unfeasible due to higher freight costs and the reality that the U.S. government has limited power over market dynamics.

ABRUPT CHANGES

India, the top buyer of discounted Russian crude after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, pared back its purchases after Trump doubled duties on imports from India to 50% in August to pressure New Delhi to curb its Russian oil buying.

This was compounded by U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top two oil companies, Rosneft ROSN.MM and Lukoil LKOH.MM, in October, and the European Union's new restrictions on fuels produced from Russian crude.

The White House said on Monday that as part of the trade deal, the U.S. will drop the additional 25% tariff.

Yet India still imported 1.2 million bpd of Russian crude in January, over one-fifth of its total imports, according to Kpler data.

January's imports are significantly lower than the 2025 average of 1.7 million bpd, and Indian officials have indicated purchases could drop further.

Despite the trade deal, Russian flows to India are unlikely to disappear. The price incentives are simply too powerful.

Russian oil is today being offered at a discount of over $20 to Brent, the steepest markdown since April 2023, according to Reuters calculations.

While Indian refiners heavily dependent on exports to Europe, such as Reliance Industries’ RELI.NS Jamnagar complex, are unlikely to resume large Russian purchases because of EU rules, refiners serving India’s domestic market may find it increasingly difficult to resist such steep discounts.

New Delhi could also choose to push back against U.S. pressure to help lower domestic fuel prices, a priority for any government facing political and economic constraints.

Ultimately, economics should prevail. The U.S. may wield significant political and economic influence over partners such as India. But that doesn’t mean Trump can steer crude flows at will in a highly liquid, transparent global oil market.

Price signals, not political directives, will determine where Russian and Venezuelan barrels end up.

Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, and X.

And listen to the Morning Bid daily podcast on Apple, Spotify, or the Reuters app. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists discuss the biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week.

(Ron Bousso
Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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By Aditi Shah and Dhwani Pandya

NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India said on Sunday foreign companies using data centres built in the country to provide services to global clients will not face any taxes for doing so for more than 20 years, hoping to assuage concerns of possible tax liabilities on the sector.

Scores of data centres have been built in India in recent years, but lawyers told Reuters that foreign companies had been concerned that New Delhi could in future impose taxes on their global income for using a data centre located in the country.

Those concerns were set to rest by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2026-27 budget speech, where she said India will "provide (a) tax holiday till 2047 to any foreign companies that provide cloud services to their customers globally, by using data centre services from India."

Vaibhav Gupta, partner at tax firm Dhruva Advisors, said: "This announcement helps in bringing clarity to foreign companies and lends stability in (their) tax position in India till 2047," noting foreign companies would no longer need to worry about potential taxes on their global income on the basis they use a data centre in India.

Google GOOGL.O said in October it will invest $15 billion in an AI data centre project in Andhra Pradesh state, while Microsoft MSFT.O and Amazon AMZN.O have poured billions into data centres in India. Indian conglomerates like Adani ADEL.NS and Reliance RELI.NS are also investing.

Amazon, Microsoft and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the government's tax measure.

"Data centres will be a major strength for India through which we can provide new services to the world," IT minister Ashwini Vaishnav told reporters.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah in New Delhi and Dhwani Pandya in Mumbai; Additional reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi, Haripriya Suresh, Sai Ishwar, Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes)

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Recasts with detail on intention of license and additional measures coming

By Timothy Gardner and Marianna Parraga

WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The administration of President Donald Trump lifted some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry on Thursday to make it easier for U.S. companies to sell its crude oil, and said more restrictions on the country would be lifted soon.

The move by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control authorizes U.S. companies to buy, sell, transport, store and refine Venezuelan crude oil, but does not lift existing U.S. sanctions on production.

A White House official said the measure "would help flow existing product" from Venezuela and that there will soon be more announcements on the easing of sanctions.

Trump has said the United States intends to control Venezuela’s oil sales and revenues indefinitely since U.S. forces seized the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro in a raid on the capital Caracas on January 3.

He has said he also wants U.S. oil companies to eventually invest $100 billion dollars to restore the OPEC-member nation’s production to its historic peaks following years of underinvestment and mismanagement.

In the meantime, Washington and Caracas have already agreed an initial deal to sell 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil, with European trading houses Vitol and Trafigura marketing the supply.

Treasury's new authorization, known as a general license, opens up Venezuela oil trade to additional companies, provided they are from the United States.

It allows transactions involving the government of Venezuela and state oil company PDVSA related to "the lifting, exportation, reexportation, sale, resale, supply, storage, marketing, purchase, delivery, or transportation of Venezuelan-origin oil, including the refining of such oil, by an established U.S. entity."

It specifically excludes firms and individuals from rivals like China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Russia.

During President Donald Trump's first administration, Treasury designated Venezuela's entire energy industry as subject to U.S. sanctions in 2019 after Maduro's first re-election, which Washington did not recognize.

The new license does not authorize any payment terms that are not commercially reasonable, involve debt swaps or payments in gold, or are denominated in digital currency.

AMERICA FIRST

Oil producers Chevron CVX.N, Repsol REP.MC and ENI ENI.MI, refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS, and some U.S. oil service providers had sought licenses in recent weeks to expand output or exports from the OPEC member.

Expanding production in the country would require additional U.S. authorizations.

Jeremy Paner, a lawyer at Hughes Hubbard & Reed and a former OFAC sanctions investigator, said the authorization is broad in the sense that it opens up many operations including refining, transportation and "lifting" of Venezuelan oil.

But he said the scope is narrow in that it only applies to U.S. companies.

Kevin Book, an analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, said the authorization could provide clarity for U.S. companies while maintaining the previous standard of case-by-case review for non-U.S. entities.

“In short, it appears to offer ‘America First, Others Ask’ sanctions relief.”

The large number of individual requests to the U.S. government had delayed progress on plans to expand exports and get investment moving quickly into Venezuela, two sources said this week.

The new OFAC license, meanwhile, came as lawmakers in Venezuela on Thursday approved a sweetened reform of the country's main oil law that is expected to grant autonomy to private producers in joint ventures or under new contracts to operate their projects and commercialize the output.

It also formalizes an oil production-sharing model first introduced by Maduro and negotiated with little-known energy firms in recent years.

Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin American Energy Program at Rice University's Baker Institute in Houston, said he wondered if the exclusion of Russian and Chinese entities would make it hard for PDVSA to operate or market oil from those ventures. Ventures with those countries produce about 22% of the oil, he said.

"If they cannot export the oil coming from these ventures, that's a big problem."

(Reporting by Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Marianna Parraga, Christian Martinez and Daphne Psaledakis;
Editing by Rod Nickel, Nathan Crooks, Richard Valdmanis and Lisa Shumaker)

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