PARKING CASH RIL buys 1.2k cr bank stocks in FY12

Mumbai: Reliance Industries (RIL) has acquired shares worth over Rs 1,200 crore of leading public and private banks in the country in the past one year. 

    The energy giant has accumulated shares of leading private sector banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank and public sector banks like SBI, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank, according to RIL's latest annual report to shareholders. Besides, the firm also bought shares of HDFC. 

    The Rs 1,233-crore investments in these banks made after RIL's last annual general meeting (AGM) have been classified as 'long-term investments' in the latest annual report. "I will take this as a confusing signal. (RIL chairman) Mukesh Ambani on one hand says that RIL will not enter into banking, and it accumulates banking stocks on the other. I think he is possibly looking at everything as RIL needs to suitably deploy the Rs 70,000-crore cash reserve," investment advisor S P Tulsian told TOI. 

    Ambani had categorically denied that RIL was planning a foray into banking during the 2011 AGM. The latest development comes at a time when RIL is awaiting regulatory approvals for its financial services foray along with joint venture partner DE Shaw & Company. Last year, RIL announced the JV to offer a wide range of financial services. But faced with slow growth, the duo failed to make a big splash.