Reliance Industries [Get Quote] on Friday unveiled five fundamental strategic shifts for growth, laying emphasis on acquisitions and partnerships for growth rather than the organic route.

"Traditionally, Reliance has grown by building businesses from scratch. But now, Reliance is actively pursuing an acquisition mode of growth," RIL chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani told shareholders at the 33rd annual general meeting of the company in Mumbai.

Organic growth strategy cannot entirely drive growth in  an era of intensive global competitiveness, rapid  technological change and limited windows of market  opportunities, he said.

Ambani highlighted RIL's recent acquisitions in Malaysia and Africa as "forerunners to the unfolding of an acquisition-led strategy".

RIL presently has a market capitalisation of Rs 3,82,259 crore. While acquisition-led growth would be the first of the  five fundamental strategic shifts taking place in Reliance, Ambani said the second would involve a shift from full
ownership to both partnership and full ownership in its  businesses.

"Traditionally, Reliance has grown by owning businesses  one hundred per cent, save for exceptions. (However) with  globalisation and the constant quest for new initiatives, this approach may be inadequate across all product, market and  technology contexts," he said.

RIL was, therefore, forging new partnerships, envisaging  an ecosystem of partnerships with global companies that could  be hugely value-accretive, Ambani said.

Citing the examples of Chevron (Jamnagar refinery expansion project) and world leaders in consumer products in its organised retailing initiative, Ambani said these partnerships would be founded on the principles of shared visions of growth, mutually reinforcing competencies and value propositions. The third strategic shift involved covering the agriculture and rural sectors.

According to the RIL chairman, while Reliance has grown on the strength of its industrial and services play, this strategy cannot entirely determine growth in a context of income and development divide in India and hence, the focus on the two new sectors.

"Reliance is, therefore, factoring the agriculture and rural sectors in its growth paradigm," he said.
He termed company's recent initiatives in bridging the farmer with global consumers through its organised retailing initiative "a pre-cursor to an agro-driven strategy".

"Reliance will work with farmers in creating economic opportunities," Ambani said, adding that this was probably the first time that a corporate house in India had focused on the agriculture and rural sectors as fulcrums for growth.

The fourth shift related to innovation, in which context  Ambani said, Reliance had traditionally grown on the strength  of its licensing technologies, but this strategy has  limitations in its play in the context of technology-driven  opportunities and global competitors harbouring Indian aspirations.