We are all set to unfold a new chapter of the #JioDigitalLife. Join us at the Reliance AGM 2017, tomorrow at 11 AM.… https://t.co/fvcqTt9OEG — Reliance Jio (@reliancejio) 1500552640000

RIL's market-cap soared 50,000 times in 40 years: Mukesh Ambani

India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani on Friday launched what he called an "effectively free" 4G-enabled feature phone handset during the Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) 40th annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai. The company has christened the handset ' Jio Phone '."The Jio Phone would be available for an effective price Rs 0,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, RIL said. Customers would be required to pay a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500 for three years, "for security reasons", the company said.Voice and data both will come free with an affordable monthly plan of Rs 153, Jio announced. "At a plan Rs 153 a month, it is only 3 per cent of the existing price putting an end to unaffordable data for all Indians forever," Ambani said.( Read here what Mukesh Ambani said about Reliance's 40-year journey)The company will also offer similar features for a weekly plan for Rs 54, and a two-day plan of Rs 24."On the Jio Phone voice will always be free, second, the 50 crore feature phone users don’t even have access to basic internet. I believe today every young Indian should have access to information at his fingertips and that is what the Jio Phone enables. To enable a digital life all need access to data at affordable rates. So starting August 15 this year I am declaring digital freedom for all feature phone users. Jio will give them access to unlimited data on the Jio phone," India's richest man announced to a thundering applause from shareholders present at the event.The company has a target of making 5 million Jio Phones available every week. The phones would be "Made in India", the RIL chief said."Users will be able to connect Jio Phone to any TV, not just smart TVs but even the old CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) TVs that you have. All Jio Phone users can enjoy viewing their Jio content on their phones from their TV screens", Ambani said.“Today Jio is going to reinvent the conventional feature phone,” he announced. The company claims that the Jio Phone is the “most intelligent affordable phone in the whole world.”In a curtain raiser of sorts Jio on Thursday had taken to micro-blogging site Twitter to tease the launch in a cryptic way. “We are all set to unfold a new chapter of the Jio Digital Life. Join us at the Reliance AGM 2017,” it said.Reliance Jio launched its 4G service commercially on September 5, 2016 offering free data and voice services. It crossed 50 million subscribers in just a matter of 83 days, and 100 million in 170 days, having added an average 6 lakh subscribers per day.On Friday, RIL -- Jio’s parent company-- shares were buzzing in morning trade, up over 3 per cent to Rs 1,575 after beating Street expectation with its June quarter earnings that were released after markets closed on Thursday. In a statement to the bourses, Jio said it would be raising Rs 20,000 crore through a rights issue of optionally convertible preference shares (OCPS) to shareholders the company prepares for the next phase of expansion. Shares of rival telecom companies Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel fell as much as 7.3 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively on Friday after the Jio Phone launch. RIL shares continued to trade around 3 per cent up in afternoon trade.(Read here about RIL's bonus share announcement)Oil-to-telecom conglomerate RIL posted a 9 per cent year-on-year jump in its standalone net profit for the April-June period ( first quarter or Q1) at Rs 8,196 crore, on the back of higher margins from its core petrochemicals business.Analysts on average expected the RIL to post a standalone profit of Rs 7993 crore, according to Thomson Reuters data. The standalone numbers account for the company's refining, petrochemicals and oil and gas exploration businesses.On a consolidated basis, RIL posted an over 28 per cent year-on-year jump in its net profit for the April-June period ( first quarter or Q1) at Rs 9,108 crore.Gross refining margin (GRM) on each barrel of crude processed — a key profitability gauge — was $11.9 in the June quarter, compared with $11.5 a year earlier. GRM is what a refining company earns by converting a barrel of crude oil into refined products.Analysts had expected a decline in GRM for the quarter, on the the back of a sharp decline in crude/product prices. During the reporting quarter, crude oil prices fell to an average of $50.8 per barrel from $54.6 in the previous (March) quarter.