RELIANCE

-- Source link: https://tinyurl.com/ynajmfz8

-- Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy

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BENGALURU, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on Wednesday launched a 5 billion rupee ($57.58 million) fund to help early-stage space technologies go commercial and reduce reliance on imports as the country seeks to boost its market share in the global space industry.

The Technology Adoption Fund will also connect government bodies with the private sector, aiming to position India as a reliable partner in the increasingly competitive market, the space regulator said in a statement.

"The fund will offer financial support of up to 60% of the project cost for startups and medium and small businesses, and 40% for larger industries, with a maximum funding cap of 250 million rupees per project," said Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe.

"This support will enable companies to refine their technologies, enhance production processes and meet market demands both within India and abroad."

India opened its space industry to private investment last year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government pushed for greater monetization of the sector, long dominated by the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The country hopes liberalized regulations will attract global players, mirroring the commercial space boom seen in the United States and Europe.

A joint venture between Reliance Industries' RELI.NS Jio Platforms and Luxembourg-based SES SESFg.LU has secured regulatory approval to provide gigabit fiber internet, while Elon Musk's Starlink and Amazon's AMZN.O Kuiper await licenses.

The government has also sanctioned a separate 10 billion rupee venture capital fund for space startups, awarded contracts for ISRO’s main launch vehicle to private firms and intensified efforts to forge global commercial partnerships.

"We are witnessing a surge of pioneering startups developing groundbreaking solutions for the space industry. But to turn these concepts into practical products that can be offered to a new marketplace, there must be sufficient funding, especially from government institutions at this specific stage," said AK Bhatt, director general of the Indian Space Association.

($1 = 86.8320 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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Feb 18 (Reuters) -

• INDIA GOVERNMENT: SIGNED PROGRAMME AGREEMENT WITH RELIANCE NEW ENERGY BATTERY LTD UNDER PLI SCHEME FOR ADVANCED CHEMISTRY CELL

• INDIA GOVERNMENT: AGREEMENT AWARDS RELIANCE NEW ENERGY BATTERY LTD 10 GWH ADVANCED BATTERY CELL CAPACITY

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

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Updates for markets close

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Chris Thomas

Feb 17 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes settled flat on Monday after eight sessions of declines, as gains in heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries offset weakness due to muted corporate earnings and global trade uncertainty.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI added 0.13% to 22,959.5, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN was up 0.08% at 75,996.86.

Both the benchmarks logged their longest losing streak in two years on Friday.

They had dropped 0.8% each during Monday's session before erasing losses in the final hour. The volatility index .NIFVIX spiked for the sixth session in a row to 15.72, a two-week closing high.

Markets could continue to remain muted due to a combination of factors such as slowing earnings, elevated corporate valuations and concerns over U.S. tariffs, said Seshadri Sen, head of research at Emkay Global.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and Reliance Industries RELI.NS, the heaviest stocks on the Nifty 50, rose 1.33% and 0.63% on the day, helping the benchmarks recover from intraday losses.

Large caps are likely to remain resilient due to their valuations falling below the 10-year average after the recent drop in markets, analysts said.

The broader smallcaps .NIFSMCP100 closed flat, while midcaps .NIFMDCP100 gained 0.4%.

On Friday, the small-cap index ended more than 20% below its record closing high on December 11, confirming a bear market.

Even with the sharp decline, small and midcaps are still trading above their historical average valuations, making them vulnerable to further selling pressure, said Rohit Murarka, business head of Kotak Cherry at Kotak Alternate Asset Managers.

Information technology .NIFTYIT, the second heaviest sub-index on the benchmarks, fell 0.6%, with eight of its 10 constituents in the red.

The auto index .NIFTYAUTO lost 0.5%, dragged down by a 3.8% drop in Mahindra & Mahindra MAHM.NS. The stock has fallen 13.4% since a record peak on Feb. 10.

UBS on Monday said the booking numbers for the firm's new electric vehicles fell short of expectations.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Savio D'Souza, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)

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By Florence Tan and Nidhi Verma

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Tightened U.S. sanctions on Moscow have disrupted a roaring trade in discounted Russian oil to China and India, reviving demand for Middle Eastern and African crudes, roiling shipping markets and driving up oil prices.

Washington's January 10 sanctions targeted tankers carrying Russian oil in a push to more effectively limit Moscow's oil revenue, the aim of western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

The new rules have left millions of barrels floating on ships and sent traders hunting for alternatives, while dealings in Russian crude, the biggest source for top global importers China and India, have slowed for March.

The scramble has upended market dynamics. For a few weeks, high-sulphur benchmark Dubai became more expensive than low-sulphur Brent, which is easier to process. That opened opportunities for producers from Brazil to Kazakhstan to gain share in China and India.

Premiums for Brazilian crude surged last month to about $5 a barrel against dated Brent on cost and freight basis to China, up from about $2 in the previous month, traders said. That premium is now just below $5 a barrel for May arrival cargoes.

In March, China is set to import its first cargo since June 2024 of Kazakhstan's CPC Blend, Kpler data showed.

In the week after the new sanctions, TotalEnergies' TTEF.PA trading arm TOTSA received so many enquiries that it held tenders instead of private negotiations to sell its Middle Eastern crude cargoes, which eventually went to China's CNOOC and Rongsheng Petrochemical, a Singapore-based trader said.

TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reflecting the rush for Middle Eastern crudes, premiums for benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban more than doubled in January from December and remain above $3 a barrel to Dubai, despite lower demand from refineries in seasonal maintenance.

In addition, top exporter Saudi Aramco hiked prices for Asia-bound crude to the highest since December 2023, raising costs for refiners.

A seller of Angolan crude said there was an increase in demand from Asian buyers looking to cover.

"Unipec is taking a lot West African crude cargoes, especially Angolan barrels - good buying interest after the Lunar New Year," a Chinese trader said. Unipec is the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec 600028.SS. Sinopec did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With sanctioned ships stuck on the water, many traders have rushed to switch to other vessels which now cost multiple times more, adding millions of dollars to the expense of each shipment.

INDIA SCRAMBLES

The rising costs are particularly tough for refiners in India. The country late last year cemented its shift from long-standing Middle Eastern sources to buy more oil from Russia, when Reliance Industries RELI.NS struck a 10-year supply deal with Russian state giant Rosneft ROSN.MM worth roughly $13 billion annually.

This week, India's oil secretary said the country's refiners want to buy only Russian oil supplied by companies and ships not sanctioned by the U.S. That has effectively reduced the number of cargoes and vessels available, Indian refining sources said.

With a limited supply of sanctions-proof cargoes, discounts for Russian Urals crude to dated Brent have narrowed to $2.50-$2.90 a barrel for March delivery, versus $3-$3.50 before the January sanctions, they said, a major cost increase on a typical one million barrel cargo.

Higher Russian crude costs have narrowed the price gap with Middle East crude to about $3 a barrel from $6-$7 for Indian refiners, offering little incentive to risk incurring secondary sanctions, Indian refining sources said.

Indian buyers turned down offers from Russian shipping giant Sovcomflot FLOT.MM to receive payments in any currencies, including Indian rupees, for Russian oil shipped on sanctioned tankers, the sources said, after its CEO met buyers in India on the sidelines of the India Energy Week conference this week. Sovcomflot declined to comment.

The slowdown has meant that Russian oil stored aboard ships has increased by 17 million barrels since January 10, according to a February 5 note from Goldman Sachs, and is expected to rise to 50 million barrels in the first half of 2025.

"We're seeing floating volume pick up. There's a number of tankers carrying Russian oil hanging out around Shandong and southern ports in China that are normally not big entry points," said a senior executive at a major global trading house.

Shandong province is the hub for independent Chinese refiners that have been core buyers of discounted sanctioned oil from Russia as well as Iran and Venezuela.

IRAN'S OUTPUT TARGETED

The Russian supply disruption comes on top of falling Iranian oil imports by top customer China amid tightening U.S. pressure, with President Donald Trump recently vowing to bring Tehran's oil exports to zero.

Goldman Sachs estimated Iranian floating storage has risen by 14 million barrels since the start of the year to its highest in 14 months. Tighter sanctions enforcement could cut Iran's output by 1 million barrels per day and push Brent to the high $80s a barrel by May, the analysts said.

The squeeze on cheap crude into China, coupled with weak domestic demand, has led several independent refiners to shut for maintenance instead of losing 500 yuan ($68.62) for every ton of non-sanctioned crude processed based on offers at $7-$8 a barrel above ICE Brent delivered to China, a trader said.

China's state refiners, meanwhile, are likely to shun Russian oil as sanctions reduce the number of counterparties and insurers for such transactions, while key ports such as Qingdao and Rizhao have become stricter, said a source with knowledge of the matter.

The person estimated Russian export volumes to China would fall by between 700,000 and 800,000 barrels per day from March, after sanctions waivers lapse. That would amount to at least a 70% decline from January, according to Kpler data.

WARNED

Weeks before the sanctions were announced in a 27-page document, Indian refiners were warned by authorities and made some purchases in advance, industry officials said. The Indian government did not respond to a request for comment on whether refiners were warned in advance.

In China, the Shandong Port Group issued a ban three days earlier on sanctioned ships from calling at its ports, although it is not clear whether the move was related.

Other signs that markets were anticipating new measures included higher demand for Middle East and African crude from Chinese and Indian buyers, and a rush to charter ships that subsequently drove up tanker rates sharply, traders said.

Adi Imsirovic, director of consultancy Surrey Clean Energy, and former oil trader at Russia's Gazprom, said the impact of the sanctions may curb Russian exports by up to 1.5 million barrels per day in the near-term.

"The only true prediction that we can make is that the market is just going to get more volatile. With more and more government intervention in the markets, it's just going to get more volatile," he said.

($1 = 7.2870 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; additional reporting by Siyi Liu and Chen Aizhu in Singapore, Anna Hirtenstein, Alex Lawler, Ahmad Ghaddar in London; Editing by Tony Munroe and Sonali Paul)

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By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The Reliance-Disney joint venture will no longer offer completely free streaming for IPL cricket matches and will adopt a hybrid model where subscription kicks in after content consumption reaches a threshold, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The entity will also launch a new rebranded streaming app, with plans starting at 149 rupees, said the first source.

The decision to change the terms of streaming the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world's richest cricket league, comes after Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance and Walt Disney combined their India media assets in an $8.5 billion merger last year.

JioCinema has allowed free IPL streaming since securing the rights for the popular tournament for five years, beginning in 2023 for $3 billion.

Now, all streaming content, including IPL, will shift to a hybrid model where free viewing will be offered for a while, and then users will need to take subscriptions depending on their consumption patterns, said two of the sources with direct knowledge.

"Once a user develops affinity to the platform, start watching free, becomes loyal ... the subscription will kick in then," said the first source, adding that each user's subscription could start at a different point of time.

The sources declined to be named as the plans are confidential.

Reliance, which controls the joint venture, did not respond to requests for comment.

The joint venture entity's streaming offering will be available on a new rebranded app, which will offer a basic plan starting 149 rupees ($1.72) and an ad-free version for 499 rupees ($5.75) for three months, said the first source.

The Reliance-Disney venture runs more than 100 TV channels and streaming apps in India's $28-billion media and entertainment market, where it also competes with Netflix and Amazon Prime, among others.

JioCinema had the rights to IPL cricket, a money-spinner and among the most-streamed content, as well as to the Winter Olympics and Indian Super League football. Disney's Hotstar app had the rights to the International Cricket Council's tournaments in India and English Premier League soccer.

Key decisions at the entity are being taken by Vice Chairman Uday Shankar, a media industry veteran who in his previous roles was instrumental in the rise of Disney's Hotstar streaming app.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; additional reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES - INCORPORATION OF A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY IN SINGAPORE

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES - UNIT TO SET UP GLOBAL CAPABILITY CENTRE FOR CONSOLIDATING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES - COMPANY WILL INVEST USD 100,000 TOWARDS

Source text: ID:nBSEbtJtD6

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

(([email protected];))

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

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Feb 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India is pulling out all the stops to be on Donald Trump's good side. The country has already made tariff concessions and fielded a planeload of deported immigrants ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to meet the U.S. President at the White House. But it is migration, not trade, that will be the sticking point in bilateral relations.

Narrowing India's $35 billion trade surplus with the United States should be manageable. Earlier this month, New Delhi undertook wide-ranging cuts to duties on American imports from Harley Davidson HOG.N motorcycles to components used by Apple AAPL.O to build smartphones. The country can also pledge to buy more American weapons and oil. Shipments of the latter amounted to $5 billion, or just 4% of bilateral trade, in the year to March 2024.

What Modi can offer on migration is far less straightforward. Trump has vowed to deport millions of illegal workers in the country and as of 2022, India was the third-largest source of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. behind Mexico and El Salvador, per data from Pew Research Center.

The country also supplies a huge chunk of legal skilled workers: India accounts for 72% of so-called H-1B visas, which allow companies from Amazon AMZN.O to Alphabet GOOGL.O, as well as Indian giants like Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, to hire specialised overseas workers such as software engineers. The programme benefits both sides: Big Tech gets access to lower-cost talent while India's skilled labour can find employment. But visa issuances have shrunk in recent years and the programme is getting an intense backlash from some of Trump's supporters.

A possible deal could see Modi agree to accept deported Indians back into the country without fuss in exchange for U.S. officials to speed up H-1B visas. But a repeat of the spectacle this month of hundreds of handcuffed people alighting from a U.S. military plane would be politically embarrassing, and shines an ugly spotlight on India's lack of high-quality jobs.

The problem for Modi, though, is that he has a weak hand with Trump with the fortunes of India's top tycoons hanging in the balance. Infrastructure magnate Gautam Adani is battling fraud charges levelled by U.S. federal investigators and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which his Adani group denies. The White House can also squeeze access to cheap Russian oil that helps India to keep inflation low, and which its largest company, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries RELI.NS, is processing, or punish India with tariffs for pushing trade transactions in non-dollar currencies. A lot rides on Modi's U.S. charm offensive.

Follow @ShritamaBose on X.

CONTEXT NEWS

U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House during February 12-14, Reuters reported on February 4, citing an unnamed White House official.

Separately, India slashed custom duties on motorcycles, such as those from Harley Davidson, with engine capacity of 1,600 cc or more, to 30% from 50% on fully built imports in the government’s annual budget announced on February 1. New Delhi also cut average tariffs to 11% from 13%, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told Reuters in an interview after the budget.

(Editing by Robyn Mak and Ujjaini Dutta)

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

By Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Walt Disney DIS.N sharply outperformed Wall Street's quarterly earnings estimates on Wednesday, with results buoyed by the strong holiday box office performance of animated sequel "Moana 2" and higher profits at the company's streaming business.

The strength in entertainment helped offset a decline at Disney's domestic theme parks, which were impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida. The parks-led Experiences group also incurred about $75 million in expenses associated with the December launch of the Disney Treasure cruise ship.

Disney reported a 44% jump in adjusted per-share earnings of $1.76 for the quarter that ended in December, exceeding the $1.45 per share earnings consensus estimate of 24 analysts surveyed by LSEG.

Revenue for the quarter rose 5% to $24.69 billion, slightly ahead of analysts' projections of $24.62 billion. Operating income rose 31% from a year earlier to $5.1 billion.

"Overall, this quarter proved to be a strong start to the fiscal year, and we remain confident in our strategy for continued growth," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.

Looking ahead, Disney forecast "high single digit" adjusted earnings-per-share growth in fiscal 2025 compared with the prior year and an increase of approximately $875 million in operating income at the streaming entertainment unit.

The company said it would incur $50 million in costs associated with exiting its Venu Sports joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O and Fox FOXA.O. The media companies abandoned their plans for a sports streaming service in January, after it ran into substantial legal opposition.

Operating income at Disney's Entertainment unit, which includes film, television and streaming, increased to $1.7 billion in the quarter, nearly double the results from a year earlier, thanks in part to the strong performance of "Moana 2."

The animated sequel topped $1 billion in box office proceeds over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend in January, becoming the fourth Walt Disney Animation film to reach that financial milestone.

Disney's traditional television business continued to erode. Operating income at so-called linear networks fell 11% to $1.1 billion.

Subscribers for the company's flagship streaming video service, Disney+, slipped 1% from the prior quarter to 124.6 million. The company had warned of a modest drop in subscribers because of a price increase that took effect in October. It also forecast a modest decline in Disney+ subscribers in the second quarter, compared to the first.

Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ produced an operating profit of $293 million in the quarter, marking the third straight quarter of profitability and a turnaround from the year-ago loss of $138 million.

In the Experiences segment, which includes consumer products and the cruise line, as well as parks, operating income was roughly flat at $3.1 billion. Profit declined 5% at domestic parks because the hurricanes and cruise ship costs, while operating income at international parks rose 28% from a year ago.

At the Sports unit, which includes the ESPN network and Star India business, operating income was $247 million, compared with a year-ago loss, in part reflecting improvement in Star India's operating results ahead of Disney and Reliance Industries completing a deal to combine their Indian media assets.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles;)

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Repeats item first published on Sunday

By Dhwani Pandya

MUMBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Reliance Retail has launched an app in India to sell fashionwear from China's Shein under a licensing deal, almost five years since Shein's app was banned in the country after getting caught up in a diplomatic tussle.

Reliance, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, launched the app on Saturday morning, said a person with direct knowledge of Reliance's launch plans. The firm did not announce the launch.

Neither parent Reliance Industries RELI.NS nor Shein responded to requests for comment outside of business hours.

The Shein India Fast Fashion app represents a departure from Reliance's strategy of adding brands to its flagship fashion app Ajio - whose offering includes Superdry and Gap - as it competes with rivals such as Myntra from Walmart's WMT.N Flipkart.

Shein, founded in China in 2012 and later headquartered in Singapore, offers a vast selection of low-priced Western clothes. Its app was banned in India in 2020 alongside other Chinese apps such as ByteDance's TikTok due to data security concerns, after a border dispute soured Indo-Chinese relations.

Last year, India's government disclosed to parliament that Reliance had entered an agreement with Shein under which Indian manufacturers would supply products under the Shein brand. It did not make any other details public.

"The fashion OG (original) is back," said a message displayed upon opening the app. Deliveries will initially be limited to a few cities including New Delhi and Mumbai and expanded nationwide soon, it said.

Offerings include dresses priced as low as 350 rupees ($4).

Reliance will pay a licence fee for using Shein's brand name, said the person with direct knowledge of the matter. There is no equity investment in the partnership, the person said, without elaborating on financial arrangements.

All Shein-branded products sold through the app are designed and made in India, said a second person with direct knowledge of the matter. The clothing will later be made available on Ajio, the person said, without providing a time frame.

Shein aims to list in London in the first half of the year. It ended its attempt to list in the U.S. following objections from lawmakers who questioned China's requirement for businesses to seek approval to list abroad, Reuters has reported.

(Reporting by Dhwani Pandya; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Christopher Cushing)

(([email protected];))

By Dhwani Pandya

MUMBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Reliance Retail has launched an app in India to sell fashionwear from China's Shein under a licensing deal, almost five years since Shein's app was banned in the country after getting caught up in a diplomatic tussle.

Reliance, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, launched the app on Saturday morning, said a person with direct knowledge of Reliance's launch plans. The firm did not announce the launch.

Neither parent Reliance Industries RELI.NS nor Shein responded to requests for comment outside of business hours.

The Shein India Fast Fashion app represents a departure from Reliance's strategy of adding brands to its flagship fashion app Ajio - whose offering includes Superdry and Gap - as it competes with rivals such as Myntra from Walmart's WMT.N Flipkart.

Shein, founded in China in 2012 and later headquartered in Singapore, offers a vast selection of low-priced Western clothes. Its app was banned in India in 2020 alongside other Chinese apps such as ByteDance's TikTok due to data security concerns, after a border dispute soured Indo-Chinese relations.

Last year, India's government disclosed to parliament that Reliance had entered an agreement with Shein under which Indian manufacturers would supply products under the Shein brand. It did not make any other details public.

"The fashion OG (original) is back," said a message displayed upon opening the app. Deliveries will initially be limited to a few cities including New Delhi and Mumbai and expanded nationwide soon, it said.

Offerings include dresses priced as low as 350 rupees ($4).

Reliance will pay a licence fee for using Shein's brand name, said the person with direct knowledge of the matter. There is no equity investment in the partnership, the person said, without elaborating on financial arrangements.

All Shein-branded products sold through the app are designed and made in India, said a second person with direct knowledge of the matter. The clothing will later be made available on Ajio, the person said, without providing a time frame.

Shein aims to list in London in the first half of the year. It ended its attempt to list in the U.S. following objections from lawmakers who questioned China's requirement for businesses to seek approval to list abroad, Reuters has reported.

(Reporting by Dhwani Pandya; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Christopher Cushing)

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Adds more details throughout

Jan 27 (Reuters) - Indian refiners' throughput in December rose 5.2% year-on-year to 5.64 million barrels per day (23.87 million metric tons), provisional government data showed on Monday.

India, which is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, saw fuel demand rising to a seven-month high in December, while crude oil imports rose to the highest level in four months.

Earlier this month, the U.S. imposed its broadest package of sanctions so far targeting Russia's oil and gas revenue, in an effort to give Kyiv and Donald Trump's administration leverage to reach a deal for peace in Ukraine.

"It may last a few months until alternate supply or alternate vessels are figured out by either Russia or Indian refiners," Prashant Vasisht, vice president and co-head of corporate ratings at ICRA, said.

"Indian refineries so far benefited from discounted Russian barrels, so it comes down to what happens to Russian flows going forward," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

The share of Middle East oil in India's oil imports last month rose to a 22-month high of nearly 52% as refiners turned to the region to make up for the short supply of Russian oil, data showed.

Meanwhile, middlemen supplying Russian oil are not offering cargoes due to the new U.S. sanctions, according to the finance chief of Bharat Petroleum.

REFINERY PRODUCTION IN TERMS OF CRUDE THROUGHPUT (in 1,000 tons):

Source: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

IOC: Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS

BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd BPCL.NS

HPCL: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd HPCL.NS

CPCL: Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd CHPC.NS

MRPL: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd MRPL.NS

Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS

Please note that CPCL's CBR refinery is de-commissioned under shutdown due to limitation in meeting required product specifications with the existing configuration.

(Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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Jan 23 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES - SALE OF 100% STAKE IN M ENTERTAINMENTS PRIVATE LIMITED

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES - DEAL FOR CONSIDERATION OF 1.2 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSEbwP9dc

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

(([email protected];))

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• RELIANCE CONSUMER PRODUCTS ACQUIRES SIL BRAND - STATEMENT

(([email protected];))

Corrects to say Jeff Bezos is Amazon chairman, not CEO

By Stephanie Kelly

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Tech billionaires, foreign diplomats and CEOs shadowed U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, with several attending St. John's Church in Washington and seated prominently on the dais in the U.S. Capitol ahead of his speech.

The church service, typically a little-noticed part of Inauguration Day, quickly became a "who's who" parade of some of the United States' - and the world's - wealthiest individuals, as attendees entered the downtown church near the White House. Tech executives' embrace of Trump, including billionaires such as Elon Musk in Trump's inner circle, has become a major theme of Trump's transition into power, and sparked warnings from former President Joe Biden.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of some Inauguration Day attendees.

TESLA CEO ELON MUSK

Musk, the world's richest man and head of Tesla TSLA.O, SpaceX and X, spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump in November, and Trump has tapped Musk to lead a department aimed at creating a more efficient U.S. government.

He arrived at the church service alone.

TIKTOK CEO SHOU ZI CHEW

One day before Trump's inauguration, TikTok thanked him for what they said was his role in restoring service of the app to American users. As TikTok faced a Sunday ban in the U.S., Trump said he would revive the app's access in the U.S. when he returned to power on Monday, adding that the U.S. will seek a joint venture to restore the short-video sharing app used by 170 million Americans.

META CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG

Since Trump was elected in November, Zuckerberg announced that his social-media company Meta Platforms META.O scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, bowing to criticism from Trump's conservative supporters. Zuckerberg has tried to mend fences with the new administration, while Trump in the past pledged to imprison the CEO.

Zuckerberg arrived at the church with his wife, Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician.

MIRIAM ADELSON

Casino billionaire and Republican mega-donor Adelson led the Preserve America super PAC, which boosted Trump. Born in Israel, Adelson and her husband Sheldon were crucial backers in Trump's first presidential win.

INDIAN BILLIONAIRE MUKESH AMBANI

Ambani, the richest man in India, heads Reliance Industries RELI.NS, India's most valuable company involved in businesses including energy and retail. Ambani also attended Trump's pre-inauguration ceremony.

THE ARNAULT FAMILY

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault attended with his wife Helene Mercier and two of his children, Delphine Arnault and Alexandre Arnault. All of Arnault's five children hold prominent positions in his luxury-goods group, the world's largest. Delphine Arnault heads the fashion label Dior, while Alexandre, who has played a key role rebranding its American jewelry label Tiffany & Co, is returning to France from the United States to help run the group's wines & spirits division. The Arnault family is France's wealthiest, with a holding in LVMH worth around $200 billion.

AMAZON CHAIRMAN JEFF BEZOS

Bezos, who runs the rocket company Blue Origin and the Washington Post newspaper, defended his paper's decision to not endorse a U.S. presidential candidate ahead of this year's election. The decision blocked an endorsement of Trump's political opponent Kamala Harris.

Amazon AMZN.O will stream Trump's inauguration on its Prime Video service. Bezos's fiancee Lauren Sanchez arrived at the Capitol with him.

GOOGLE CEO SUNDAR PICHAI

Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google, along with other companies such as Amazon and Meta, donated $1 million each to Trump's inaugural fund. Trump will likely dial back some of the antitrust policies pursued under former President Joe Biden, potentially including a bid to break up Google over its dominance in online search, experts said.

FORMER UK PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON

Johnson, who was once dubbed "Britain Trump" by Trump himself, met with Trump in 2023 to discuss "the vital importance of Ukrainian victory" over its invasion by Russia. Johnson had been keen to forge a profile as one of Ukraine's most ardent backers in its fight against Russia.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; additional reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by Heather Timmons and Rod Nickel)

(([email protected]; 646-737-4649; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]/))

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

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Jan 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Reliance Industries RELI.NS is enjoying a brief moment of cheer. Earnings at Mukesh Ambani’s $198 billion conglomerate grew 7.4% in the three months to the end of December, after falling for nine straight months. But a new round of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil supply network appear to have caught India’s largest public company off guard and threaten to hurt its recovery.

Reliance's oil-to-chemicals division reported a 2.4% year-on-year increase in EBITDA, due largely to strong domestic sales and the availability of cheap crude for its refineries. The company's commentary sidestepped the elephant in the room, however.

Since Russia was made a pariah from the U.S.-led global financial system following its invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Reliance has benefited from supplies of discounted crude from Moscow. The company imports oil to refine at its facilities in Gujarat on the western coast of India and exports the product to Europe and elsewhere. Washington turned a blind eye to this trade, and an emboldened Reliance formalised it last month by signing a 10-year supply deal with Rosneft ROSN.MM.

Gains from that agreement were set to be worth around $13 billion annually, according to Reuters, citing sources, and are now set to fade after the United States turned the screws on Russia last week. The Treasury’s sanctions against 183 ships include tankers that handled about 42% of Russia’s seaborne crude exports last year, per energy and shipping data provider Kpler.

Rosneft’s supplies would have met more than one-third of Reliance’s refinery requirement, starting January, and could lift the gross refining margin by as much as $2 a barrel, analysts at Jefferies reckon. The margin stood at $8.05 in September, per estimates on Visible Alpha. The sanctions will force the conglomerate to source more of its crude from the open market, where Brent prices have risen over 2% to nearly $82 a barrel since the latest curbs were announced.

The timing couldn’t be worse for the cash cow business of Ambani’s empire: Reliance’s shares fell in 2024 and underperformed the benchmark Nifty 50 Index .NSEI by almost 15 percentage points. While consumption businesses like retail and telecoms have ramped up to account for 52% of group EBITDA, Indians are now holding back from spending as wages stagnate in the $4 trillion economy.

Investors may also worry about Reliance’s smarts. India’s state-run refiners had been discussing a long-term deal to purchase Russian crude but have now paused talks, Business Standard newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed officials in the Ministry of Petroleum. By being first to sign, Reliance is left in an awkward position with both Washington and its shareholders.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Reliance Industries on Jan. 16 reported a 7.4% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit for the three months to the end of December to $2.14 billion. EBITDA in the oil-to-chemicals business grew 2.4% and the EBITDA margin dropped 40 basis points to 9.6%.

The U.S. Treasury on Jan. 10 imposed sanctions on Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as on 183 ships that have been transporting Russian oil and two maritime insurance providers based in the country.

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

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

** Reliance Industries RELI.NS, the 2nd-highest weighted stock on the Indian benchmarks, edge up 0.3% ahead of Q3 results

** Analysts expect the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate to post a 4.5% YoY rise in Q3 net profit to 180.38 bln rupees ($2.1 mln), as per data compiled by LSEG

** Co posted a fall in profit in the last three quarters

** Rev expected to have risen 5.7% YoY -LSEG data

** Jefferies expects 7% QoQ EBITDA increase on strength in oils-to-chemicals business and telecom unit Jio; says retail business likely benefitted from festive season demand

** Elara Capital expects EBITDA growth of 17% YoY in retail and 16% YoY in telecom; but refining and petrochem to hurt margins

** 32 analysts covering the stock on avg have a "buy" rating; median PT is 1,625 rupees - LSEG data

** RELI shed ~6% in 2024, its first annual fall in a decade

($1 = 86.4275 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

(([email protected] ; ( +91 8078332441))

** Shares of Reliance Industries RELI.NS fall 1.07% to 1,251.40 rupees amid broader market weakness .BO

** Stock has fallen about 22% from record high on July 8, 2024, compared to 3.3% decline in Nifty 50 .NSEI in same period

** However, Goldman Sachs says the sell-off "is overdone," and it being close to the brokerage's bear scenario assumes weakness in oil, telecom and retail segments

** Telecom returns under Jio are already poised for strong growth, although retail segment growth is taking longer - GS

** Brokerage expects flat YoY core profit growth but 5% sequential gain in Q3 FY25 earnings report

** Brokerage expects core profit to grow 24% in FY26E

** Improving oil refining margins, potential telecom tariff hike in FY26, and retail rev growth after ops restructuring and macro improvement to drive FY26 growth, GS says

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

Updates for markets close

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Indranil Sarkar

Jan 8 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes ended largely unchanged on Wednesday as concerns over slowing corporate profits and the increasing likelihood of fewer U.S. rate cuts offset a rise in Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI shed 0.08% to 23,688.95, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN was down 0.06% at 78,148.49.

Both the benchmarks fell about 0.8% each during the session before paring losses in the last two hours.

Recent business updates from companies, including Dabur India DABU.NS and Hero MotoCorp HROM.NS, have not led investors to believe that corporate profit growth in the third quarter will be any better than the previous one, which was the worst in four years.

"Worries over moderation in earnings growth and expensive valuations are weighing on domestic markets, while a cocktail of pivotal global events such as Donald Trump's victory in U.S. elections and likelihood of fewer U.S. rate cuts are adding to uncertainty among investors," said analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

U.S. data on Tuesday showed a resilient economy and labour market, indicating fewer rate cuts this year, which would make the United States more attractive to investors in comparison to emerging markets, including India.

Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries RELI.NS, the second-heaviest weighted stock on the Nifty, rose 2% on the day after Jefferies reiterated its "buy" rating, saying the stock's valuation was the lowest since the onset of COVID-19.

The IT index .NIFTYIT gained 0.6%, led by a 2% jump in Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, ahead of its December-quarter earnings on Thursday.

The broader, more domestically-focussed smallcaps .NIFSMCP100 and midcaps .NIFMDCP100 declined 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively.

Among individual stocks, real estate firm Sobha SOBH.NS fell 5.8% after reporting a drop in total home sales in the December quarter.

Kingfisher beer maker United Breweries UBBW.NS lost 3.6% after it said it will suspend beer supply to Telangana Beverages Corp due to stagnant prices and unpaid dues.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Savio D'Souza)

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Jan 1 (Reuters) - South West Pinnacle Exploration Ltd SWPI.NS:

• EXTENSION OF CBM PRODUCTION CONTRACT BY RELIANCE INDUSTRIES

• EXTENDED CONTRACT VALUE 1.58 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nNSE881TlD

Further company coverage: SWPI.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of Reliance Industries RELI.NS down 6.4% so far this year, on track for their first annual fall since 2014

** Shares of the Mukesh Ambani-owned conglomerate also set for their worst year since 2011

** Reliance, India's most valuable company, had posted a 5.5% drop in Q1 profit and a 4.8% drop in Q2 profit during the fiscal year 2025

** 32 analysts covering the stock on avg have a "buy" rating; median PT is 1,632.5 rupees - data compiled by LSEG

** India's benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI, on which RELI is the second heaviest stock, has gained over 8% YTD

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected] ; ( +91 8078332441))

** Shares of Comrade Appliances COMR.BO rise 5.5% to 132 rupees

** Home appliances maker wins order from the retail arm of Reliance Industries RELI.NS

** Order for air coolers worth 148.9 million rupees ($1.8 million)

** More than 50,000 shares traded, 3x their 30-day avg

** Stock largely flat in 2024, but up around 51% since listing in June 2023

($1 = 85.2650 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nishit Navin)

(([email protected];))

** India's benchmark indexes NSE Nifty 50 .NSEI and BSE Sensex .BSESN gain about 1.1% each, bouncing back from their worst weekly performance since June 2022

** The two heaviest stocks in Indian benchmarks, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and Reliance Industries RELI.NS, rise about 2% each

** HDBK leads financials .NIFTYFIN 1% higher

** Investors parking funds in large-caps like HDBK and RELI as they seek valuation comfort and safety after last week's drop, say two analysts

** Metal index .NIFTYMET gains 1.6% after India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies initiates probe to determine "safeguard duty" on steel imports

** JSW Steel JSTL.NS gains 3.3% to be the top Nifty 50 gainer by percentage

** Cigarettes maker ITC ITC.NS gains 2.3% after finance minister says there was no decision by goods and services tax (GST) council on changing rates on some items, including tobacco, against market expectations of a tax hike

** The broader, more domestically focussed smallcaps .NIFSMCP100 trade flat while midcaps .NIFMDCP100 gain 0.7%

** India Cements ICMN.NS jumps 9% after the country's competition watchdog approved UltraTech Cement's ULTC.NS stake purchase in India Cements

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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Adds details, context in paragraphs 2-3 and 6-11

By Marianna Parraga

HOUSTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS have resumed an oil swap that had been paused due to U.S. sanctions on the South American country, an internal PDVSA document seen on Thursday showed.

Reliance and other Indian refiners had imported Venezuelan oil earlier this year under a broad U.S. license that expired in April. In July, Washington granted Reliance an individual authorization green-lighting the trade.

Before sanctions, India was Venezuela's second largest market for its crude. Due to the U.S. measures and separate licenses issued to some of PDVSA's joint venture partners, China has this year remained the main destination for Venezuela's oil, followed by the United States and Europe, according to ship tracking data.

A supertanker carrying about 1.9 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey heavy crude departed earlier this month for India's Sikka port, while a unit of Reliance delivered a 500,000-barrel cargo of heavy naphtha to PDVSA this month in exchange, according to the document.

PDVSA and Reliance did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining complex, plans to pay in cash for the balance of the crude purchases after the swaps, a source told Reuters in August, in an arrangement similar to past exchanges.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump told reporters this week his country does not need oil from Venezuela, which currently exports about 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the United States, mostly shipped by oil producer Chevron CVX.N.

Chevron did not provide comment on Trump's remarks.

Possible changes in the U.S. sanctions regime on Venezuela, which since 2019 works through a combination of executive orders and licenses, could lead to a new interruption of the OPEC country's heavy oil flows to the U.S., while also halting Venezuela's imports of refined products from the United States.

If that happens, the Venezuelan barrels currently exported to the U.S. are expected to be redirected to Asian destinations, analysts and experts have said.

Venezuela's government has said the U.S. sanctions are illegitimate measures that amount to an "economic war" designed to cripple Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro and his allies have cheered what they say is the country's resilience despite the measures.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Diane Craft)

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

Updates as of 11:17 a.m. IST

By Hritam Mukherjee and Kashish Tandon

Dec 17 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes fell on Tuesday, dragged down by financials and Reliance Industries, while investors braced for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting that will shed more light on the central bank's future rate cut path.

The NSE Nifty 50 .NSEI was down 0.8% at 24,470.1 points as of 11:17 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN fell 0.83% to 81,075.43.

Eleven of the 13 major sectors traded lower.

HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, the heaviest stock on the Nifty 50, dropped 1% after it received a warning letter from the markets regulator alleging its disclosures regarding the resignation of a senior employee were non-compliant with certain provisions.

The lender's losses also pulled down financials .NIFTYFIN by 0.9%.

Reliance Industries RELI.NS - another Nifty heavyweight - slipped more than 1%, dragging the energy index .NIFTYENR 1.04% lower.

IT firms .NIFTYIT, which get a bulk of their revenue from the U.S., fell 0.4% ahead of the Fed's policy meeting decision on Wednesday, where a quarter-point rate cut is almost certain with the odds being at 95%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Investors are waiting to get a "whiff of what comes tomorrow from the Fed in terms of when and how much will the central bank cut rates in 2025," said Anita Gandhi, founder and head of institution at Arihant Capital Markets.

The Fed's rate cut trajectory for next year has become less certain in light of recent U.S. data that showed sticky inflation in a relatively robust economy.

Meanwhile, data released on Monday showed India's trade deficit widened to a record level in November, which Gandhi said further weighed on investor sentiment on the day.

Among individual stocks, Zomato ZOMT.NS climbed nearly 3% after brokerage Nuvama said it expects the food delivery platform to see inflows of nearly $513 million when it enters the BSE Sensex index on Dec. 23.

The more domestically-focussed small- .NIFSMCP100 and midcaps .NIFMDCP100 were marginally higher on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Bharat Global Developers Ltd BHAP.BO:

• BGDL COMPLETES 1.2 BILLION RUPEES FCC PROJECT FOR RELIANCE INDUSTRIES

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: BHAP.BO

(([email protected];))

Dec 13 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• ACQUIRED 74% STAKE OF NAVI MUMBAI IIA PRIVATE LIMITED

• DEAL FOR 16.28 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE5hTm1r

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

(([email protected];))

Adds byline, no change to story text

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI/MOSCOW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Russia's state oil firm Rosneft ROSN.MM has agreed to supply nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude to Indian private refiner Reliance RELI.NS in the biggest ever energy deal between the two countries, three sources familiar with the deal said.

The 10-year agreement amounts to 0.5% of global supply and is worth roughly $13 billion a year at today's prices. It would further cement energy relations between India and Russia, which is under heavy Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Rosneft did not reply to requests for comments.

Reliance said it works with international suppliers, including from Russia, and deals are based on market conditions. The company declined further comment on commercial matters, citing the confidentiality of supply agreements.

The deal comes ahead of the planned visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to India and after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he wants to push Moscow and Kyiv to stop the war as soon as he takes office in January.

Russian oil accounts for more than a third of India's energy imports. India became the largest importer of Russian crude after the European Union, previously the top buyer, imposed sanctions on Russian oil imports in response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

India has no sanctions on Russian oil, so refiners there have cashed in on the cheaper crude supply. Sanctions have made Russian oil cheaper than rival grades by at least $3 to $4 per barrel.

India's rising Russian imports have come at the expense of rival Middle Eastern producers. The Reliance-Rosneft deal would represent another challenge for competitors, including Saudi Arabia.

Competition among oil producers for a share of the Indian market is hot because it is one of the fastest-growing energy markets, and is becoming more important as a driver of global demand as growth in top importer China slows.

Under the deal, Rosneft would deliver 20-21 Aframax-sized cargoes (80,000 to 100,000 metric tons) of various Russian crude grades and three cargoes of about 100,000 tons each of fuel oil each month, the three sources said.

The shipments will be supplied for Reliance's refining complex, the world's biggest, at Jamnagar in the western state of Gujarat.

Two sources said Reliance and Rosneft will review pricing and volumes every year under the deal to factor in oil markets dynamics.

In 2024, Reliance had a deal with Rosneft to purchase 3 million barrels of crude a month. Rosneft has been also selling crude to Reliance via intermediaries on a regular basis.

The new deal accounts for roughly a half of Rosneft's seaborne oil exports from Russian ports, which leaves not much supply available for other traders and middlemen, one source said.

From January to October, Reliance imported an average 405,000 barrels per day of Russian oil, up from 388,500 bpd in the same period last year, according to tanker data obtained from sources.

The new deal between Rosneft and Reliance was discussed and approved during Rosneft’s board meeting in November, two of the sources said.

Supplies will start from January and are set to continue for 10 years with an option to extend the deal for another 10 years, the three sources said.

The pricing of the grades to be supplied on delivered basis is set at differentials to the average Dubai price of the loading month, according to the sources.

Premiums for the light sweet grades were set at around $1.50 a barrel for ESPO, Sokol at about $2 per barrel and Siberian Light at about $1 per barrel against Dubai quotes for 2025, one source said.

The majority of the supply will be medium-sulphur and diesel-rich Russian Urals that are most popular with Indian refiners and will be priced at a discount of $3 per barrel to Dubai quotes for the following year, two sources said.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Reuters reporters in Moscow; Editing by Lincoln Feast and William Mallard)

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Adds details and background from paragraph 2 onwards

Dec 10 (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS is in talks with banks for a loan of as much as $3 billion to refinance debt that is due next year, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Around six banks are in talks with the company for the loan, which would be syndicated to the wider market in the first quarter of 2025, the report said, adding that the terms of the loan have not been finalized yet and are subject to changes.

Reliance did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment.

Its billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani told shareholders in August that the conglomerate is on track to more than double in size before the end of the decade, as it unveiled measures to step up its adoption of artificial intelligence.

Reliance's outstanding debt as of Sept. 30 was 3.36 trillion rupees ($39.60 billion).

($1 = 84.8340 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)

(([email protected];))

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI/MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Three trading houses have become dominant sellers of Russian oil to India as many smaller players dropped out of the business due to high funding costs in Russia and lack of access to Western funds, according to data and six trading sources.

The change reverses a trend of dozens of little-known trading firms flooding the market for oil trade between Russia and key buyers China, India and Turkey, lured by prospects of higher fees to help Russian producers skirt Western sanctions.

India has become the biggest buyer of Russia's seaborne crude after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with purchases near record highs at 1.8 million to 2.0 million barrels per day, or more than a third of its crude imports.

The recent concentration of trade has allowed Russia to sell record oil volumes to India at the smallest discounts since 2022, though its oil remains cheaper than rival U.S. and Middle Eastern grades, according to six traders and data.

The dominance of a few players makes it easier to track them and increases the trade's exposure to further sanctions should the West ratchet up pressure on the Kremlin, traders said.

Washington and Brussels have imposed various sanctions on traders, banks and shipowners to cut the Kremlin's income, but new firms quickly replaced the sanctioned entities.

That changed in recent months.

Most Russian crude is now sold by firms such as the Dubai-based trading arm of Russian oil firm Lukoil, Litasco Middle East, and Dubai-based Hinera Trading and Black Pearl Energy Trading, according to customs data and shipping data seen by Reuters. The development has not previously been reported.

Lukoil did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not trace contact details for Hinera and Black Pearl Energy. The two firms ship large oil volumes sourced by Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft to India, trade sources say.

Rosneft did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, Indian companies were getting Russian oil offers from at least 10 middlemen a month, three of the six sources said. All six sought anonymity as they were not authorised to speak with media.

Some of the sources work for Indian refiners and some for traders of Russian oil.

Traders such as Dubai-based Starex Trading and Pontus Trading, which were large suppliers of Russian oil to India last year, are no longer offering cargoes, according to customs records drawn from a commercial trade data provider and the three trading sources.

Starex Trading and Pontus did not respond to requests for comment.

Indian state refiners such as Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS rely on spot purchases, unlike private refiners Reliance Industries RELI.NS and Nayara Energy, part-owned by Rosneft, which have annual deals to import Russian oil, the sources said.

HIGH RATES

Russian oil middlemen depend on funding from Russian banks amid Western sanctions and had to abandon the trade after Russia raised interest rates to 21% in late October, the highest since 2003, two of the six traders said.

As Russia's oil flows to India became more established, its producers began to seek pre-payments from middlemen of up to two weeks before a cargo is loaded, the two sources said.

In 2022 and 2023, by comparison, payments were made weeks after loading as Russian firms were desperate to place barrels in Asia after sanctions closed off European Union markets, the two sources said.

The shrinking number of middlemen gave Russian producers more pricing power, the six traders said.

Discounts on benchmark Russian oil Urals shrank in recent months to $3 per barrel to $4 per barrel on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis in Indian ports versus $8 per barrel last year, according to Reuters calculations based on market data.

Russian barrels still remain attractive for Indian buyers as they are $3 per barrel to $3.5 per barrel cheaper than rival grades from the United States and the Middle East, the six traders said.

Despite stronger prices, volumes of Russian seaborne oil to India remain near record highs, exceeding shipments to China.

While the concentration of trade makes it potentially easier for the West to reduce Russian oil sales with additional sanctions, Russian firms could resort again to the strategy of using multiple middlemen if needed, one of the traders said.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Reuters reporters in Moscow; Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Florence Tan, Tony Munroe and Clarence Fernandez)

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