RELIANCE

By Sarita Chaganti Singh and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, May 14 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani will meet U.S. President Donald Trump and the emir of Qatar in Doha on Wednesday, two sources told Reuters, as his company Reliance Industries RELI.NS looks to foster ties with authorities in both nations.

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, QIA, has invested in Reliance businesses over the years, and Ambani, who is Asia's richest man, has many business partnerships with the likes of U.S. tech giants such as Google GOOGL.O and Meta META.O.

Ambani will attend a state dinner for Trump at the Lusail Palace in Doha, but did not plan to hold any investment or business discussions, said the first source, who had direct knowledge of the matter.

Another London-based Indian business leader close to the Trump and Qatar administrations will also attend, said both the sources, without identifying the individual.

Further details of Ambani's agenda were not clear. Reliance did not immediately respond to Reuters' queries.

In February, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani visited India, where his country has committed to invest $10 billion across various industries.

Trump will travel to the United Arab Emirates from Qatar on Thursday in a trip that is focused on investment rather than security matters in the Middle East.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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

Adds details on pricing for satellite spectrum in paragraph 3-5, background throughout

May 9 (Reuters) - India's telecom regulator has recommended allotting satellite spectrum for commercial communication services for five years, it said on Friday, at a time when Elon Musk is getting closer to launching his Starlink high-speed internet in the country.

The recommendation also includes a possibility to extend an initial five-year spectrum allocation by a further two years depending on market conditions, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)said.

The telecom watchdog also recommended charging telecom operators 4% of their adjusted gross revenue for geostationary orbit-based fixed satellite services and for mobile satellite services.

This is subject to a minimum annual spectrum charge of 3,500 rupees ($41) per megahertz (MHz), according to TRAI.

For non-geostationary orbit-based fixed satellite services, an additional 500 rupees per subscriber per annum in urban areas should be charged, exempting rural and remote areas, it said.

The recommendations come as Elon Musk is working towards launching Starlink in India. Musk has urged New Delhi to allot spectrum for 20 years to focus on "affordable pricing and longer-term business plans," according to Starlink's public submissions.

TRAI had agreed to demands for a lower licence time-frame to see how the sector grows, Reuters had reported in March, citing a government source.

Musk and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani signed a partnership in March that would allow Starlink devices to be sold in Ambani's Reliance RELI.NS stores, giving it access to a large distributor.

Ambani and Musk had previously been rivals - Ambani's telco subsidiary had unsuccessfully lobbied New Delhi for months to auction spectrum rather than allot it administratively, as Musk wanted.

Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS, India's No. 2 telco, has also pushed for a three-to-five year period for the licence. Bharti Airtel and Musk have also signed a distribution deal for Starlink.

($1 = 85.3610 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru. Editing by Aidan Lewis, Mark Potter and Susan Fenton)

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Updates with background paragraph 2 onwards

May 8 (Reuters) - The Indian government has agreed to a conditional nod for SpaceX's Starlink to start offering satellite-based internet services in the country, television news channel CNBC-TV18 reported on Thursday.

Starlink and the Indian Department of Telecommunications did not immediately respond to Reuters emails asking for comment.

Starlink in March signed agreements with Indian telecom operators Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS, Vodafone Idea VODA.NS and Reliance Industries RELI.NS Jio, in moves that would give the U.S. firm greater access to the world's most populous nation.

Elon Musk and Mukesh Ambani, who chairs the Reliance conglomerate, were at loggerheads over how airwaves should be assigned for satellite internet, with New Delhi finally siding with the allocation approach the U.S. billionaire lobbied for.

Starlink has been waiting since 2022 for licenses to operate commercially in India. New Delhi had long-delayed clearances for reasons including national security concerns.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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Repeats story that ran on Sunday

By Aditya Kalra and Arpan Chaturvedi

NEW DELHI, May 4 (Reuters) - Samsung has asked an Indian tribunal to quash a $520 million tax demand for allegedly misclassifying imports of networking gear, arguing officials were aware of the practice as India's Reliance imported the same component in a similar manner for years, documents show.

Samsung 005930.KS becomes the second major foreign company in recent months to challenge an Indian tax demand.

Volkswagen has sued Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in court for a record demand of $1.4 billion for misclassifying its component imports.

In the Samsung case, tax authorities in January asked Samsung to pay $520 million for evading the 10-20% tariffs by misclassifying imports of a key mobile tower equipment, which it then sold to billionaire Mukesh Ambani's telecom giant, Reliance Jio, from 2018 to 2021.

In its 281-page challenge at the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal in Mumbai, Samsung criticises Indian authorities for being "fully aware" of the business model as Reliance RELI.NS had a "long-established practice" of importing the same equipment without any tariff payments for three years until 2017.

Samsung's India unit says it discovered during an Indian tax investigation that Reliance had been warned about the practice way back in 2017, but Reliance did not inform the South Korean company about it and tax officials never questioned Samsung.

"The classification adopted by the appellant (Samsung) was known to the authorities, however the same was never questioned ... Department was fully aware," Samsung says in its April 17 filing, which is not public but was seen by Reuters.

"Reliance Jio officials did not inform" Samsung about the tax warning of 2017, it adds.

Samsung and India's tax authority did not respond to Reuters queries.

Further details of Reliance's 2017 warning from tax authorities are not public and were not disclosed in the Samsung filing. Reliance didn't respond to Reuters queries.

Other than $520 million demand Samsung faces, Indian authorities have also imposed an $81 million fine on seven of its employees, taking the total tax demand to $601 million. It's not clear if Samsung employees are separately challenging the fines.

The tax demand represents a substantial chunk of last year's net profit of $955 million for Samsung in India, where it is one of the largest players in the consumer electronics and smartphones market.

In defending its tariff declarations, Samsung also argues in its filing that the tax authority passed the order in January "in a hurry" and it was not provided "a fair opportunity" to present its case, despite the "huge stakes" involved.

The Samsung case concerns imports of a component called "Remote Radio Head", a radio-frequency circuit enclosed in a small outdoor module, that tax officials say is "one of the most important" parts of 4G telecoms systems.

The case against Samsung alleges it misclassified the component's imports worth $784 million from Korea and Vietnam between 2018 to 2021, to maximise profits.

Investigators found that Samsung "transgressed all business ethics and industry practices or standards in order to achieve their sole motive of maximising their profit by defrauding the government exchequer," the January order stated.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Michael Perry)

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

** Shares of Reliance Industries RELI.NS rise 1%, among top gainers on Nifty 50 .NSEI, which is up 0.4%

** Stock has risen 8.04% this week, on course for biggest weekly gains since May 2022

** RELI reported Q4 profit above estimates on April 25; stock has risen for the four sessions since

** Retail growth, likely listing of Jio, improvement in O2C profitability are key triggers for RELI's shares in FY26, multiple brokerages say

** Average rating of 33 analysts is "buy"; median target price is 1,546.5 rupees, 9% above current levels - data compiled by LSEG

** After falling 6% last year, RELI shares have gained 15.6% in 2025 so far

** Nifty rose 8.8% in 2024 and is up 3.1% in 2025 so far

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463;))

Adds details on the vessel in paragraph 2, background on cancellations

HOUSTON, May 1 (Reuters) - A vessel chartered by Chevron CVX.N carrying some 300,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil was set to start discharging at a Venezuelan port on Thursday, according to shipping data and a source.

It would be the last tanker to return its cargo following state company PDVSA's order to return the crude amid payment uncertainty related to U.S. sanctions.

The Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, Dubai Attraction, on Thursday entered a berth in Amuay terminal, Venezuela, to start discharging the cargo it originally intended to export, LSEG shipping data showed.

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

Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who is also the OPEC country's oil minister, has blamed the U.S. measures for the issue, saying they prevented Chevron from paying for the oil.

Venezuela's oil exports fell almost 20% in April to 700,000 barrels per day, the lowest in nine months, due to the cargo cancellations. Chevron's exports of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. plummeted 69% to some 66,000 bpd due to PDVSA's measures.

Some tankers Chevron had chartered to move crude from Venezuela to the U.S. were marketed for spot contracts elsewhere, sources said last week. This signaled that Chevron does not expect to load all the cargoes it typically ships from Venezuela even if it eventually finds a way to resolve the disagreement with PDVSA.

In March, President Donald Trump's administration revoked a license issued in 2022 by the U.S. Treasury Department for Chevron to operate in Venezuela. The May deadline was granted to wind down operations and oil exports.

The same deadline was granted to other partners of PDVSA, including Eni ENI.MI, Repsol REP.MC, Maurel & Prom MAUP.PA and Reliance Industries RELI.NS, to wind down oil cargoes bound for Europe and Asia.

Tankers chartered by trading house Vitol VITOLV.UL were loading and discharging normally at Venezuelan ports, according to the data and documents, while vessels chartered by Reliance Industries for India delivery and Maurel & Prom for Europe departed on schedule last week, ahead of the May 27 deadline to wind down cargoes and operations.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio)

(([email protected]; +1 832 610 7346; Twitter: @ArathySom;))

** Indian benchmark indexes traded flat on Wednesday, with gains in index heavyweights HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and Reliance Industries RELI.NS offsetting broader losses

** HDBK, RELI up about 1% each

** Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi grants military chiefs freedom to respond to last week's deadly militant attack in Kashmir

** India has identified three attackers, including two Pakistani nationals, as "terrorists" waging a violent revolt in Kashmir; Islamabad has denied any role and says intelligence suggests Indian military action likely soon

** While anxiety may persist in the near term due to tensions with Pakistan, markets tend to stabilise going by history, says ICICI Securities

** Bajaj Finance BJFN.NS falls 5.5% despite higher Q4 profits; brokerages flag weak pre-provision profit and high credit costs as key negatives

** Automaker Tata Motors TAMO.NS drops 3% following multiple block deals executed at a discount

** Broader markets underperform, with small-cap .NIFSMCP100 and mid-cap indexes .NIFMDCP100 down 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively

** Nifty up 3.6% in April so far, set for second straight monthly rise

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463;))

** Reliance Industries RELI.NS climbs 2.6% to 1,405 rupees

** Stock extends gains after fourth-quarter results to 8%, marking its best two-day gains since May 2021

** At least 13 of 32 analysts tracking RELI raised their PT and a dozen upgraded stock post results on Monday, per data compiled by LSEG

** Stock rated "buy" on avg

** RELI up 17.3% in April; set for its best month since January 2024

** YTD, stock gains 16%

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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Updates for morning trade

April 28 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Monday, driven by heavyweight Reliance Industries after it reported better-than-expected earnings, while continued foreign inflows further lifted sentiment.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI was up 0.9% at 24,255.55 and the BSE Sensex .BSESN gained 0.98% to 79,989.97 as of 10:33 a.m. IST.

Around a third of the Nifty's gains came from oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries RELI.NS, which jumped 3% and hit a six-month high after beating analysts' estimates for quarterly earnings.

"RIL's analyst meeting had a confident tone on the outlook for consumer retail growth normalisation back to double digits and domestic fuel sales increases, with details on ramp-up of the new energy vertical," Morgan Stanley said in a note.

This is a re-rating catalyst for the stock as it marks the reversal of an earnings downgrade cycle, it said.

Barring IT, the other major sectors advanced on Monday. The broader mid- .NIFMDCP100 and small-caps .NIFSMCP100 rose 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

Meanwhile, data showed that foreign investors scooped up Indian stocks worth 324.65 billion rupees ($3.80 billion) over the last eight days in spite of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

The major factor contributing to the resilience of the market is the sustained foreign buying due to the relative underperformance of U.S. stocks, bonds and the dollar, said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.

Heavyweight financials .NIFTYFIN, which have significant foreign investor exposure, rose 0.8%, driven by gains in ICICI Bank ICBK.NS and Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS, up 1.6% and 1%, respectively.

Among other stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra MAHM.NS jumped 1.8% and was among the top three Nifty gainers after it announced plans to acquire a majority stake in SML Isuzu SMLI.NS for 5.55 billion rupees.

However, SML Isuzu tumbled 10% as the deal valued its shares at a 63.3% discount to Friday's closing price.

($1 = 85.3400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)

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April 25 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Q4 JIO ARPU 206.2 RUPEES PER SUBSCRIBER/MONTH

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES NET DEBT 1.17 TRLN RUPEES AS ON MARCH 31

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

(([email protected];;))

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON, April 23 (Reuters) - Some tankers Chevron had chartered to move crude from Venezuela to the United States this month are now being marketed for spot contracts elsewhere, sources said, after state company PDVSA canceled loading permits and ordered the firm to return cargoes amid payment uncertainty related to sanctions.

The marketing of the vessels indicates that Chevron does not expect to load all the cargoes it typically ships from Venezuela in a month even if it eventually finds a way to resolve the disagreement with PDVSA.

Tanker Sea Dragon, which had discharged Venezuela's Boscan heavy crude in Philadelphia, was being marketed by Agelef Maritime Services, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Chevron was marketing vessel Andromeda, which earlier this month discharged Venezuelan Hamaca crude at Port Arthur, the sources added.

At least six more tankers Chevron had chartered to carry Venezuelan crude to the U.S. in coming weeks as part of the wind down of its U.S. license through May 27 were stalled in the Caribbean Sea waiting for directions after PDVSA last week ordered two cargoes to be returned and canceled loading permits to others, cutting the deadline short.

As of Wednesday, Chevron-chartered tanker Dubai Attraction, which finished loading some 300,000 barrels of Venezuelan Boscan crude in early April, was still awaiting customs paperwork to return its cargo, according to ship tracking data and sources.

Carina Voyager, managed by a Chevron unit, was near Aruba after returning its 500,000-barrel cargo to PDVSA last week, LSEG shipping data showed.

Sea Jaguar's loading window at Venezuela's Jose terminal, originally scheduled for mid-April, was canceled by PDVSA, according to a document seen by Reuters. The ship was on Wednesday hovering around Aruba, according to tracking data.

PDVSA and Chevron did not reply to requests for comment.

Other tankers chartered by trading house Vitol VITOLV.UL were loading and discharging normally at Venezuelan ports, according to the data and documents, while vessels chartered by Reliance Industries RELI.NS for India delivery and Maurel & Prom MAUP.PA for Europe departed on schedule, ahead of the May 27 deadline to wind down cargoes and operations.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Franklin Paul)

(([email protected]; +1 832 610 7346; Twitter: @ArathySom;))

STOCKHOLM, April 22 (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson ERICb.ST is planning to manufacture all its telecom antennas for the Indian market in the country, the company said on Tuesday.

Demand from India's telecom companies started to skyrocket in 2023, as Bharti Airtel and Jio, the telecom unit of Reliance Industries, started to scale up 5G services, and cushioned a slowdown of orders from the United States, Ericsson's top market.

Ericsson, which started manufacturing in India in 1994, will localize all its passive antenna production for the Indian market by June, it said in a statement. It also has manufacturing facilities in Mexico, Romania and China.

The company expects to export a significant portion of the antennas manufactured in India after meeting domestic needs, it said.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm, editing by Louise Rasmussen)

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BENGALURU, April 18 Reuters - Diary of India economic, corporate events on April 18

ECONOMIC, CORPORATE .BSE500 EVENTS:

(Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)

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April 17 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• DISSOLUTION OF RELIANCE GLOBAL PROJECT SERVICES PTE. LTD.

Source text: ID:nBSEmtSKX

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

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April 15 (Reuters) - India has launched an auction of three coal bed methane blocks and 55 small discovered fields for exploration and production, said Pallavi Jain Govil, head of upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, on Tuesday at an event in Delhi.
Two of the coal bed methane blocks are in the state of West Bengal and one in the western state of Gujarat.
India also signed contacts for oil and gas blocks, offered under a licensing round earlier this year, Govil said, as the world's third largest oil consumer seeks to boost its local output.

The country imports over 80% of its over 5 million barrels per day of oil needs.
India's top explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp ONGC.NS signed contracts for exploration of 11 blocks, while Oil India OILI.NS signed for six blocks.
ONGC also signed an exploration contract for one block in tie up with BP BP.L and Reliance Industries RELI.NS, and teamed up with Oil India for three blocks.
Vedanta VDAN.NS signed contracts for seven blocks and Hindustan Oil Exploration Company HOEX.NS for one block.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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April 11 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• NAUYAAN TRADINGS COMPLETED ACQUISITION OF FURTHER 10% EQUITY STAKE IN NAUYAAN SHIPYARD

Source text: ID:nBSEbwtmyl

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

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April 9 (Reuters) - Many buyers of Venezuelan oil have resumed loading crude onto tankers after a week-long hiatus at the country's ports after the U.S. applied tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on importers of the OPEC nation's oil, according to shipping data and documents.

In March, the U.S. Treasury Department gave U.S. oil producer Chevron CVX.N and other foreign partners and customers of PDVSA until May 27 to wind-down operations and cease oil exports from Venezuela. Days later, Washington imposed tariffs on buyers of Venezuela's oil and gas.

The measures prompted the suspension of some tanker loadings at the country's main oil port of Jose and created delays at smaller terminals. Trump's hardening stance discouraged traders and importers from continuing to ship Venezuelan oil.

Following the U.S. measures on oil buyers, many vessels undocked at Jose and moved offshore. Now, many of these have returned to complete their loading. They have begun departing from Venezuelan waters bound for destinations including India and China, according to the data and internal documents from Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA.

"There was a panic moment when the vessels undocked, but they later received instructions to complete their cargoes," a PDVSA source said.

As of Wednesday, crude cargoes allocated to Chevron for U.S. delivery, Reliance Industries RELI.NS for India delivery and several intermediaries for China delivery were setting sail in a signal that Venezuela's oil exports will not collapse in the short term.

PDVSA, Chevron and Reliance did not immediately reply to requests for comment. The government of President Nicolas Maduro has blasted U.S. sanctions on Venezuela as an "economic war."

On its side, PDVSA is reorganizing output and crude upgrading to refine more oil domestically in the second half of the year. This could blunt the impact of lower crude exports.

In China, the main importers of Venezuela's heavy crude grades are independent refiners known as teapots that buy through intermediaries. As the tariffs loomed last month, some refiners delayed or suspended imports from the South American country, opting for Brazilian and West African crudes instead.

Chinese traders and refiners told Reuters last month they would wait to see how the tariff order was implemented and whether Beijing would direct them to stop buying.

Some independent refiners temporarily paused purchases from Venezuela as they sought information on whether supply would remain available and at what price.

China is Venezuela's largest oil buyer, directly and indirectly taking in some 480,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and fuel this year. The U.S. is the No. 2 destination with 250,000 bpd, India is third with 63,000 bpd and Europe fourth with 44,000 bpd.

In the long run, analysts forecast oil output will decline between 150,000 and 350,000 bpd by year end if the wind-down period granted to buyers is not extended or secondary tariffs lifted. Venezuela produced 921,000 bpd of crude last year, according to figures reported to OPEC.

Some joint venture partners of PDVSA, including Europeans Eni ENI.MI and Repsol REP.MC, have said they are in talks with Washington seeking exemptions to the U.S. sanctions on the country that would allow them to keep producing oil and gas in Venezuela even if barrels are not exported.

The loading hiccups are temporarily benefiting Venezuela's political ally Cuba, with more crude cargos planned for that destination this month, the documents showed.

(Editing by Simon Webb and David Gregorio)

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** Shares of oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries RELI.NS lose as much as 7.5% to 1,114.85 rupees, their lowest levels since October 6, 2023

** RELI with a weightage of 8.1% drags benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI 4% lower

** "Weaker global fuel demand due to tariff uncertainty could hurt refining margins of RELI," says Morgan Stanley

** The drop in the session drags RELI to "oversold" territory, with the relative strength index (RSI) slipping to 28.6

** The session's losses also push RELI to losses for 2025 so far; RELI stock down about 1% in 2025, compared with NSEI's 7.6% drop

** This is the sharpest single-day drop for RELI since June 4, 2024, when markets fell after the ruling National Democratic Alliance returned to power with a smaller majority

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463;))

By Nidhi Verma

April 3 (Reuters) - India's gasoline demand is expected to peak by 2035, and gasoil (diesel) consumption by 2041 or beyond as motorists shift to cleaner fuels, an executive at Reliance Industries RELI.NS said on Thursday.

India, seen as a key driver for global oil demand growth, has set a goal to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2070.

India is set to lead global oil demand growth this year, surpassing China, with fuel consumption expected to increase throughout the next decade.

"Energy transition is absolutely on the cards. In our country it is not going to be one fuel which is going to be dominant," said Harish Mehta, president of Strategy and Business Development at Reliance Industries.

Apart from gasoline and gasoil, India will see a dominant role of gaseous fuels such as liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas and compressed biogas in the transportation sector along with electric mobility, Mehta said at an event run by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.

India would have a "bouquet of energy sources or the fuels for transport and other things" simultaneously.

Reliance, which operates the world's largest refining complex at Jamnagar in western Gujarat, has two refineries at the complex processing about 1.4 million barrels of crude per day.

To make the fuels affordable and mitigate the impact of volatility in global oil markets for consumers, he expects India's government to continue to intervene in local fuel pricing.

India's oil and gas consumption is expected to grow at 3-4% annually, requiring a push to boost domestic hydrocarbons production, said A. K. Singh, chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corp ONGC.NS.

Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS chairman, A S Sahney, said as India's energy demand continues to rise, state refiners are expanding capacities by about 20% in the next two years.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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April 2 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• RELIANCE BREAKS GROUND ON FIRST OF 500 CBG PLANTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

• PLANS TO INVEST 650 BILLION RUPEES IN DEVELOPING INTEGRATED CBG HUBS IN AP

• INITIATIVE IS EXPECTED TO CREATE 250,000 JOBS FOR RURAL YOUTH

Source text: ID:nBSE2HByDt

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

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

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, April 1(Reuters Breakingviews) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of his mission to "Make India Great Again" when he met Donald Trump in February, leaning on the U.S. president's motto to "Make America Great Again". For both leaders, the vision counts on spurring domestic manufacturing. But India's mission is faltering. Modi may want to copy some of Trump's aggression to put that right.

Modi first articulated his Make in India vision to turn the country into a manufacturing hub a decade ago. The government may now let its $23 billion flagship scheme to achieve that goal lapse, Reuters reported last week, citing four unnamed government officials. The production-linked incentive scheme, launched in 2020, offered cash payouts to firms in 14 sectors meeting specified output targets. The goal was three-fold: increase local production, cut imports and create jobs. Five years on, its track record looks patchy.

While success in churning out smartphones led by Apple's AAPL.O iPhone helped raise the country's share of global exports to 2.4% in 2022 from 0.1% in 2017, the PLI failed in most other sectors. Even corporate giants including $200 billion Reliance Industries RELI.NS and Adani Enterprises ADEL.NS were unable to meet targets. The government withheld some payouts. Ultimately Vietnam and Mexico gained more from the China-plus-one opportunity. Manufacturing's share of India's GDP stood at 13% in 2023, well behind the PLI's original 25% target.

Small pivots are afoot: a new subsidy for making electronics components announced on Friday set a target for jobs and capital investment in addition to turnover. Trump may also force some changes required. To preempt U.S. tariffs, India removed levies on inputs for electric vehicle batteries, among other things, for example.

Modi's top economic adviser in January identified the government "getting out of the way" as the key to cutting the cost of doing business. A uniform set of labour laws, speedier land supply, and power connections for new factories would help. To achieve that, Modi will have to persuade the country's 28 provinces to agree on adopting common terms for business.

The Indian leader withdrew proposed legislation on acquiring land in his first term but he can push the issue again and make progress if he can marshal the will with which he introduced a single tax code and a real estate law in 2017. There will be a political cost but it may be a small price to pay to avoid the wrath of swathes of unemployed people.

Follow @ShritamaBose on X

CONTEXT NEWS

India will offer subsidies worth $2.7 billion to boost electronics components manufacturing. The plan, announced in a statement on March 28, will aim to add nearly 92,000 direct jobs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has decided to let lapse a $23 billion program to incentivise domestic manufacturing, four years after it launched, Reuters reported on March 24, citing four unnamed government officials.

(Editing by Una Galani and Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/
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NEW DELHI, March 31 (Reuters) - India has raised the price of its locally produced gas from oil fields by nearly 4% to $6.75 per million metric British thermal units (mmBtu) for April, compared with $6.50/mmBtu for the previous month, a government website showed on Monday.

It is the first revision in two years in the price of gas produced from old fields. In 2023, India fixed a cap of $6.50 per mmBtu for two years with a provision of an annual upward revision of 25 cents from the third year.

India has also set the ceiling price for gas to be produced from difficult fields at $10.04 per mmBtu for April-September, compared to $10.16 per mmBtu in the previous six months, the website of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell of the oil ministry showed.

The prices will be applicable on a gross heat value basis.

Higher prices of gas produced from oil fields will lead to higher earnings for Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India while raising the prices for industrial buyers and companies in the fertiliser and city gas distribution sectors.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

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Adds context on Venezuela's exports in paragraphs 5-7, replies in paragraph 8

By Marianna Parraga

HOUSTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has notified foreign partners of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA of the imminent cancellation of authorizations that allow them to export Venezuelan oil and byproducts, sources close to the decision by President Donald Trump's administration said on Saturday.

In recent years, former President Joe Biden's administration granted the authorizations to secure Venezuelan oil for refineries from Spain to India as exceptions to the U.S. sanction regime on the South American country.

The companies that had received licenses and comfort letters from Washington include Spain's Repsol REP.MC, Italy's Eni ENI.MI, France's Maurel & Prom MAUP.PA, India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS and U.S. Global Oil Terminals.

Most companies had already suspended imports of Venezuelan oil following Trump's imposition this week of secondary tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil and gas, according to sources and vessel tracking data.

The combination of tariffs and license cancellations to enforce sanctions is expected to squeeze Venezuela's oil exports in the coming months, after they began to decline in March, according to the data.

In February, Venezuela exported 910,000 barrels per day of crude and fuel, above January's 867,000 bpd.

Similar measures by Trump's first administration in 2020 knocked down Venezuela's oil output and exports, creating the need for PDVSA to use intermediaries to allocate cargoes to China, and leading to a pact with Iran. Those middlemen still do business with PDVSA.

PDVSA, Repsol, Eni, Maurel & Prom, Reliance and the U.S. State Department did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Global Oil could not be reached for comment. The U.S. Treasury Department declined to comment.

Last month, Trump said a key license to U.S. producer Chevron CVX.N to operate in Venezuela and export crude to the U.S. would be canceled. Days later, the Treasury Department ordered the company to wind down Venezuelan operations, and last week extended the deadline to May 27.

The withdrawal of the most important U.S. license for Venezuela's energy industry has sent a strong signal of Washington's policy change toward Venezuela as Trump's administration also curbs migration, with a special focus on Venezuelans illegally in the U.S.

Following reports by international observers of irregularities in President Nicolas Maduro's 2024 reelection, Trump has ramped up pressure on his government while accusing him of failing to make progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns.

It was not immediately clear if all PDVSA partners were given the same May 27 deadline to wind down operations. The terms of Chevron's license termination also have not been completely clarified.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this month that foreign oil companies in Venezuela would receive new guidance.

Maduro has criticized the sanctions, saying they amount to an "economic war."

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga, additional reporting by and Stefanie Escenbacher; Editing by David Gregorio and Rod Nickel)

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

** Jefferies hikes investment in Reliance Industries RELI.NS in India long-only portfolio by 2 pct pts, offset by cuts in HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and SBI SBI.NS

** Jefferies removes Godrej Properties GODR.NS from Asia ex-Japan long-only portfolio in favour of Macrotech MACE.NS (increase) and DLF DLF.NS (inclusion)

** Also hikes investment in Eternal ZOMT.NS (Zomato) in Asia-long portfolio

** Overall, India's weightage in the Asia portfolio is 18%, 2nd-highest after China's 33%

** Jefferies cautions global markets must contend with higher U.S. tariffs given skewed differentials, noting India's avg 17% tariffs in 2023 was higher than all other countries

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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Corrects paragraph 14 to say India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, March 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco is in talks to invest in two planned refineries in India as the world's top oil exporter looks for a stable outlet for its crude in the world's fastest-growing emerging market, several Indian sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer and importer, wants to become a global refining hub as Western companies cut crude processing capacity in their shift to cleaner fuels.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's share of India's oil imports has declined as refiners that have invested billions of dollars in upgrading their plants diversify crude sources to tap cheaper alternatives, including from Russia.

Aramco is in separate talks to invest in Bharat Petroleum Corp's (BPCL) BPCL.NS planned refinery in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and a proposed Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) ONGC.NS refinery in western Gujarat state, the sources said.

Aramco, BPCL and ONGC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Both Indian firms are state-controlled.

While ONGC's Gujarat refinery plans are at a nascent stage, BPCL's chairman said in December that it aimed to invest $11 billion in its Andhra Pradesh refinery and petrochemical project.

Two refinery sources said separately that the projects would proceed regardless of whether Aramco invests.

"It all depends on the proposal that Aramco gives," one of them said.

Sources said state-controlled Aramco proposes to supply oil equivalent to three times its stake in each project, and wants to sell its share of production either in India or by export.

"We want flexibility in crude procurement. If we give them 30% stake, they want to supply crude equivalent to 90% of the capacity, which is not possible," the second refinery source said.

Other details, including potential investment size and the configuration of the planned refineries, were not immediately available.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to visit Saudi Arabia in the second quarter, and the two countries will attempt to reach an agreement before the visit, said a third source with knowledge of the matter.

India's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Aramco has long been scouting for refining opportunities in India.

In 2018 it joined a consortium of Indian companies to build a 1.2 million barrels per day refinery and petrochemical project in western India and in 2019 it signed a non-binding agreement for a 20% stake in Reliance Industries' RELI.NS oil to chemical business.

However, the huge refinery project has been delayed by difficulties over procuring land and the deal with Reliance was called off due to differences over valuation.

In January, Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India would look to set up three refineries of 400,000 bpd each.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma. Additional reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi and Yousef Saba in Dubai. Editing by Mark Potter)

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March 26 (Reuters) -

• RELIANCE PAUSES BUYING OF VENEZUELAN OIL AFTER TRUMP 25% TARIFF- BLOOMBERG NEWS

Source text: https://tinyurl.com/3f3rfdjf

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Corrects paragraph to show throughput fell 4.5%, not rose

March 25 (Reuters) - Indian refiners' throughput in February fell 4.5% year on year to 5.12 million barrels per day (21.67 million metric tons), provisional government data showed on Tuesday.

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 David Goodman)

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Updates March 21 story with statement from India commerce ministry

By Sarita Chaganti Singh, Shivangi Acharya

NEW DELHI, March 24 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has decided to let lapse a $23 billion program to incentivize domestic manufacturing, just four years after it launched the effort to woo firms away from China, according to four government officials.

The scheme will not be expanded beyond the 14 pilot sectors and production deadlines will not be extended despite requests from some participating firms, two of the officials said.

Some 750 companies, including Apple supplier Foxconn and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, signed up to the Production-Linked Initiative scheme, public records show.

Firms were promised cash payouts if they met individual production targets and deadlines. The hope was to raise the share of manufacturing in the economy to 25% by 2025.

Instead, many firms that participated in the program failed to kickstart production, while others that met manufacturing targets found India slow to pay out subsidies, according to government documents and correspondence seen by Reuters.

As of October 2024, participating firms had produced $151.93 billion worth of goods under the program, or 37% of the target that Delhi had set, according to an undated analysis of the program compiled by the commerce ministry. India had issued just $1.73 billion in incentives - or under 8% of the allocated funds, the document said.

News of the government's decision to not extend the plan and specifics about the lag in payouts are being reported by Reuters for the first time.

Modi's office and the commerce ministry, which oversees the program, did not respond to requests for comment. Since the plan's introduction, manufacturing's share of the economy has decreased from 15.4% to 14.3%.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the commerce ministry said participating firms had produced $163 billion worth of goods as of November 2024. The ministry did not say if the program would be allowed to expire but said PLIs have "incentivized domestic manufacturing, leading to increased production, job creation, and a boost in exports."

Foxconn, which now employs thousands of contract workers in India, and Reliance didn't return requests for comment.

Two of the government officials told Reuters the end of the program did not mean Delhi had abandoned its manufacturing ambitions and that alternatives were being planned.

The government last year defended the program's impact, particularly in pharmaceuticals and mobile-phone manufacturing, which have seen explosive growth. Some 94% of the nearly $620 million in incentives disbursed between April and October 2024 were directed to those two sectors.

In some instances, some food-sector companies that applied for subsidies weren't issued them due to factors such as "non compliance of investment thresholds" and companies "not achieving stipulated minimum growth," according to the analysis. The document did not provide specifics, though it found production in the sector had exceeded targets. Reuters could not determine which companies the analysis referred to.

But Delhi had previously acknowledged problems and agreed to extend some deadlines and increase payment frequency after complaints from PLI participants. One of the Indian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters, said that excessive red tape and bureaucratic caution continued to stymie the scheme's effectiveness.

As an alternative, India is considering supporting certain sectors by partially reimbursing investments made to set up plants, which would allow firms to recover costs faster than having to wait for production and sale, another official said.

Trade expert Biswajit Dhar at the Delhi-based Council for Social Development think-tank, who has said Modi's government needs to do more to attract foreign investment, said the country might have missed its moment.

The incentives program was "possibly the last chance we had to revive our manufacturing sector," he said. "If this kind of mega-scheme fails, do you have any expectation that anything is going to succeed?"

The stalling of manufacturing comes as India tries to circumvent the trade war unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticised Delhi's protectionist policies.

Trump's threat of reciprocal tariffs on countries like India that have a trade surplus with the U.S. means the export sector is increasingly challenged, said Dhar. "There was some amount of tariff protection ... and all that is going to be slashed."

HITS AND MISSES

The program was introduced at an opportune time for India: China, which for decades had been the world's factory floor, was struggling to maintain production amid Beijing's zero-COVID policy.

The U.S. was also seeking to reduce its economic reliance on an increasingly assertive Beijing, prompting many multinationals to pursue a "China plus one" policy of diversifying production lines.

With its large youthful population, lower costs and a government regarded as relatively friendly to the West, India seemed set to benefit.

India has become a global leader in pharmaceutical and mobile-phone production in recent years.

The country produced $49 billion worth of mobiles in the 2023-24 fiscal year, up 63% from 2020-21, government data show. Industry leaders like Apple now manufacture their newest and most sophisticated cellphones in India, after having started with low-cost models.

Similarly, pharmaceutical exports nearly doubled to $27.85 billion in 2023-24 from a decade ago.

But the success was not repeated in the other sectors, which include steel, textiles and solar panel manufacturing. India faces fierce competition from cheaper rivals like China in many of those fields.

In the solar industry, for instance, eight of the 12 companies that signed up to PLI are unlikely to meet their targets, according to a December 2024 analysis of the sector prepared by the renewable energy ministry and seen by Reuters. The eight firms included units of Reliance, Adani Group and the Indian conglomerate JSW.

The analysis found that the Reliance entity would only meet 50% of the production target it had been set for the end of the 2027 fiscal year, when the solar PLI scheme will expire. It also said that the Adani business had not ordered equipment it needed to manufacture the solar panels and that JSW had not "done anything yet."

JSW declined to comment, while Adani did not respond to questions.

The commerce ministry said in a January letter to the renewables ministry seen by Reuters that it would not agree to its counterpart's request to extend the scheme beyond 2027 as doing so "will result in unfair benefit for non-performers."

The renewables ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that it was committed to "fairness and accountability," as well as "ensuring that only those who meet their targets are rewarded."

In the steel sector, investment and production also lag targets. Fourteen of the 58 projects approved for PLIs have been withdrawn or removed due to lack of progress, according to the undated program-wide analysis.

($1 = 86.4425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya and Sarita Chaganti Singh; Editing by Aftab Ahmed and Katerina Ang)

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March 22 (Reuters) - OpenAI and Meta Platforms META.O have held separate discussions with India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS over potential partnerships to expand their artificial intelligence offerings in the country, The Information reported on Saturday, citing two people who spoke to executives at both companies.

(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; editing by Diane Craft)

(([email protected];))

Repeats story from Friday morning in Asia

By Sarita Chaganti Singh, Shivangi Acharya

NEW DELHI, March 21 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has decided to let lapse a $23 billion program to incentivize domestic manufacturing, just four years after it launched the effort to woo firms away from China, according to four government officials.

The scheme will not be expanded beyond the 14 pilot sectors and production deadlines will not be extended despite requests from some participating firms, two of the officials said.

Some 750 companies, including Apple supplier Foxconn and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, signed up to the Production-Linked Initiative scheme, public records show.

Firms were promised cash payouts if they met individual production targets and deadlines. The hope was to raise the share of manufacturing in the economy to 25% by 2025.

Instead, many firms that participated in the program failed to kickstart production, while others that met manufacturing targets found India slow to pay out subsidies, according to government documents and correspondence seen by Reuters.

As of October 2024, participating firms had produced $151.93 billion worth of goods under the program, or 37% of the target that Delhi had set, according to an undated analysis of the program compiled by the commerce ministry. India had issued just $1.73 billion in incentives - or under 8% of the allocated funds, the document said.

News of the government's decision to not extend the plan and specifics about the lag in payouts are being reported by Reuters for the first time.

Modi's office and the commerce ministry, which oversees the program, did not respond to requests for comment. Since the plan's introduction, manufacturing's share of the economy has decreased from 15.4% to 14.3%.

Foxconn, which now employs thousands of contract workers in India, and Reliance didn't return requests for comment.

Two of the government officials told Reuters the end of the program did not mean Delhi had abandoned its manufacturing ambitions and that alternatives were being planned.

The government last year defended the program's impact, particularly in pharmaceuticals and mobile-phone manufacturing, which have seen explosive growth. Some 94% of the nearly $620 million in incentives disbursed between April and October 2024 were directed to those two sectors.

In some instances, some food-sector companies that applied for subsidies weren't issued them due to factors such as "non compliance of investment thresholds" and companies "not achieving stipulated minimum growth," according to the analysis. The document did not provide specifics, though it found production in the sector had exceeded targets. Reuters could not determine which companies the analysis referred to.

But Delhi had previously acknowledged problems and agreed to extend some deadlines and increase payment frequency after complaints from PLI participants. One of the Indian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters, said that excessive red tape and bureaucratic caution continued to stymie the scheme's effectiveness.

As an alternative, India is considering supporting certain sectors by partially reimbursing investments made to set up plants, which would allow firms to recover costs faster than having to wait for production and sale, another official said.

Trade expert Biswajit Dhar at the Delhi-based Council for Social Development think-tank, who has said Modi's government needs to do more to attract foreign investment, said the country might have missed its moment.

The incentives program was "possibly the last chance we had to revive our manufacturing sector," he said. "If this kind of mega-scheme fails, do you have any expectation that anything is going to succeed?"

The stalling of manufacturing comes as India tries to circumvent the trade war unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticised Delhi's protectionist policies.

Trump's threat of reciprocal tariffs on countries like India that have a trade surplus with the U.S. means the export sector is increasingly challenged, said Dhar. "There was some amount of tariff protection ... and all that is going to be slashed."

HITS AND MISSES

The program was introduced at an opportune time for India: China, which for decades had been the world's factory floor, was struggling to maintain production amid Beijing's zero-COVID policy.

The U.S. was also seeking to reduce its economic reliance on an increasingly assertive Beijing, prompting many multinationals to pursue a "China plus one" policy of diversifying production lines.

With its large youthful population, lower costs and a government regarded as relatively friendly to the West, India seemed set to benefit.

India has become a global leader in pharmaceutical and mobile-phone production in recent years.

The country produced $49 billion worth of mobiles in the 2023-24 fiscal year, up 63% from 2020-21, government data show. Industry leaders like Apple now manufacture their newest and most sophisticated cellphones in India, after having started with low-cost models.

Similarly, pharmaceutical exports nearly doubled to $27.85 billion in 2023-24 from a decade ago.

But the success was not repeated in the other sectors, which include steel, textiles and solar panel manufacturing. India faces fierce competition from cheaper rivals like China in many of those fields.

In the solar industry, for instance, eight of the 12 companies that signed up to PLI are unlikely to meet their targets, according to a December 2024 analysis of the sector prepared by the renewable energy ministry and seen by Reuters. The eight firms included units of Reliance, Adani Group and the Indian conglomerate JSW.

The analysis found that the Reliance entity would only meet 50% of the production target it had been set for the end of the 2027 fiscal year, when the solar PLI scheme will expire. It also said that the Adani business had not ordered equipment it needed to manufacture the solar panels and that JSW had not "done anything yet."

JSW declined to comment, while Adani did not respond to questions.

The commerce ministry said in a January letter to the renewables ministry seen by Reuters that it would not agree to its counterpart's request to extend the scheme beyond 2027 as doing so "will result in unfair benefit for non-performers."

The renewables ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that it was committed to "fairness and accountability," as well as "ensuring that only those who meet their targets are rewarded."

In the steel sector, investment and production also lag targets. Fourteen of the 58 projects approved for PLIs have been withdrawn or removed due to lack of progress, according to the undated program-wide analysis.

($1 = 86.4425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya and Sarita Chaganti Singh; Editing by Aftab Ahmed and Katerina Ang)

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