Reliance Industries on Thursday said its board has approved the issue of one free share for every share held in the country's largest ever issuance of bonus equity shares.
The 1:1 bonus issue will the first by India's most valuable company in seven years.
The board also recommended an increase in authorised share capital to Rs 50,000 crore from Rs 15,000 crore, the company said in a statement.
This will be the oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate's sixth bonus issue since listing.
"The Board of Directors of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) today approved the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 i.e. every shareholder holding 1 (one) fully paid-up equity share of Rs 10 each on the record date will receive 1 (one) fully paid-up equity share of Rs 10 each," it said.
The record date will be separately intimated.
Reliance had issued 1:1 bonus in September 2017 when the company's share price was around Rs 700.
It closed at Rs 2,987.15 on the BSE on Thursday, down 1.41 per cent over the previous days' close.
The firm did its first bonus issue in 1980-81 when it issued bonus shares in the ratio 3:5, followed by another 6:10 issue in 1983-84 and 1:1 issues in 1997-98, 2009-10 and 2017-18.
This is the sixth bonus issue from RIL since its IPO and the second in this Golden Decade.
The bonus issue is a testimony to Reliance's continued commitment towards rewarding shareholders during the Golden Decade from 2017 to 2027.
"In 2017, Reliance had issued bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.
“This was followed by a Rights Issue in 2020, where shareholder's investment has grown 2.5 times already. In July 2023, Jio Financial Services Limited was demerged, which is valued 35 per cent higher today from its listing," the firm said.
Reliance chairman and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani had announced the bonus issue in the company's annual shareholder meeting last week.
This is the sixth bonus issue from RIL since its IPO and the second in this Golden Decade.
The bonus issue is a testimony to Reliance's continued commitment towards rewarding shareholders during the Golden Decade from 2017 to 2027.
"When Reliance grows, we reward our shareholders handsomely," he had said on August 29.
"And when our shareholders are rewarded handsomely, Reliance grows faster and creates more value.
“This virtuous cycle has been the guarantor of your company's perpetual progress."
At the annual general meeting, he had stated that Reliance more than double in size, with sales and profit doubling at its retail and telecom arms.
