RELIANCE

By Munsif Vengattil

BENGALURU, April 4 (Reuters) - Welcome to the new-look movie set, where the quiet hum of a coding floor has replaced the cacophony of cameras, clapperboards and shouted directions.

The Collective Artists Network, a top talent agency for Bollywood A-listers, has long brokered the careers of real-life superstars. Now, it’s engineering digital ones. In its Bengaluru premises, filmmakers use artificial intelligence tools to create content based on Hindu mythology – a popular genre in India. One movie, based on the religious text “Ramayana,” has a scene showing the god Hanuman flying while carrying a mountain. A show based on a separate ancient epic, “Mahabharat,” features a sequence depicting the princess Gandhari, who blindfolded herself upon marrying a blind king.

India produces the most movies of any country, and stars such as Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan command cult-like followings. But shifting audience habits, including the rise of streaming, are squeezing production budgets, many industry players say. The number of moviegoers fell to 832 million in 2025 from 1.03 billion in 2019, according to consulting firm Ormax Media. While box-office sales hit a record $1.4 billion last year, revenue has been choppy since the pandemic and reliant on a handful of hits and pricier tickets.

(To view the story on Reuters.com, go to https://www.reuters.com/technology/ai-is-rewiring-worlds-most-prolific-film-industry-2026-04-04/)

Studios in India are responding by deploying AI at a scale unseen elsewhere: creating full-fledged AI-generated films; using AI dubbing to release movies in numerous languages; and recutting endings of older titles to eke out additional sales. In the process, they are reshaping the economics of filmmaking, compressing production timelines, and pitting AI-driven efficiency against a recurring problem: Audiences have often reviewed AI content harshly, even when it sells.

“AI is slashing production costs to one-fifth of what they used to be for traditional filmmaking in genres such as mythology and fantasy,” said Rahul Regulapati, who heads Collective’s AI studio, known as Galleri5. And production time? “Down to a quarter,” he said.

The approach differs from Hollywood, where union contracts and fears of job displacement have constrained studios’ use of the technology. In India, at least one major production house is reviewing its entire library for AI re-releases, and Google GOOGL.O, Microsoft MSFT.O and Nvidia NVDA.O have made early bets by partnering with local filmmakers.

Previous reporting has explored how Indian filmmakers are harnessing AI, and India’s divergence with Hollywood. But Reuters is detailing for the first time the extent to which India’s film industry is reorganizing itself around AI and the economics driving the shift. Reuters visited two AI studios and tested moviemaking tools, attended film festivals and interviewed 25 people for this story, including directors, studio heads, industry executives and startup figures.

American and British studios have experimented with AI filmmaking – producing the first full-length AI animated features in 2024 and an AI-powered immersive version of “The Wizard of Oz” last year.

But the ambitions of India’s filmmakers are on a different level, said Dominic Lees, a film and AI researcher at Britain’s University of Reading. “If they can deliver, then the shift in AI filmmaking will be to India,” he said.

The pivot to AI reflects India’s embrace of the technology broadly. Last year, Reuters detailed India’s wager that leaning in to AI will create enough opportunities to offset shorter-term disruption. AI could boost Indian media and entertainment firms’ revenue by 10% and reduce costs by 15% over the medium term, according to analysis by consulting firm EY.

Vikram Malhotra, founder of Abundantia Entertainment, told Reuters the Bollywood production house, which recently announced investment in an $11 million AI studio, is building its AI capability from scratch and expects content generated or assisted by AI to account for one-third of its revenue within three years.

NEW ENDINGS FOR OLD DRAMAS

Last year, India’s Eros Media World re-released a 2013 hit, “Raanjhanaa,” with an AI-altered twist. It replaced a tragic ending, in which the protagonist died, with a happier finale where he opens his eyes to the surprise of his lover, who smiles through tears.

The rewrite drew backlash. Dhanush, the lead actor, who goes by one name professionally, said on X that the AI remake had “stripped the film of its very soul” and set a “deeply concerning precedent for both art and artists.”

Still, the re-release of “Raanjhanaa” drew audiences. India’s largest cinema chain, PVR Inox PVRL.NS, told Reuters that 35% of available tickets to the Tamil-language version of the movie were sold during its release month, August. That was 12 percentage points higher than the average in 2025.

Now, Eros is going further: Pradeep Dwivedi, its group CEO, told Reuters the studio is reviewing its 3,000-title catalog “to identify candidates for AI-assisted adaptation.” The group’s Indian unit, Eros International, last year warned of “competition from digital platforms” as its consolidated annual revenue from operations fell 44%.

“It’s both a revenue opportunity and a creative renewal strategy,” Dwivedi said of the plans for AI rewrites.

In Hollywood, such alterations would face barriers. Under an agreement with U.S. actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, studios cannot digitally alter an actor’s performance or create a digital replica without the performer’s informed consent. The Directors Guild of America contract bars studios from using AI for creative decisions without consulting the director and prevents AI from doing the work of its members.

Indian studios, by contrast, are pushing into aggressive experiments using AI, including in Hindu mythological tales – big business in a country with millions of devout followers. Collective is planning eight AI-generated titles focused on deities such as Hanuman, Krishna, Durga and Kali.

JioStar, a media joint venture between billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance RELI.NS and Walt Disney DIS.N, has been airing an AI-generated adaptation of the ancient Hindu epic “Mahabharat” – the first episodic series to emerge from Collective's cinematic AI lab.

The AI rendition of the tale about a dynastic war between princes has recorded at least 26.5 million views since its October release on JioStar’s streaming platform, the company told Reuters. An earlier TV adaptation drew 200 million viewers between 1988 and 1990.

The show has faced a rocky reception with audiences, however. “Mahabharat” holds a rating of 1.4 out of 10 on IMDb, with some reviewers criticizing lip-sync issues and others saying some sequences felt low-quality or lacked authenticity due to unnatural styling.

Alok Jain, a senior executive at JioStar, told Reuters the response “has been a mix of appreciation and healthy debate, which is natural for any ambitious creative leap.” He said JioStar is exploring making original stories in AI format.

Some industry figures lament the rise of AI in filmmaking. Jonathan Taplin, an American writer and producer who has worked with Hollywood studios, said the use of AI to create entire feature films is “an affront to the whole history of cinema.”

“It will fill your cinemas and screens with formula slop,” he said.

DUBBING WITH AI

Dubbing may offer a smoother path to acceptance of AI in film.

India’s 22 official languages and hundreds of dialects split the country into micro-markets, making dubbing essential for any movie to become a national blockbuster. Audiences have long griped about mismatched lip movement – a problem AI is beginning to address.

During a Reuters visit to NeuralGarage, an AI startup in Bengaluru that provides dubbing for top studios like Yash Raj Films, co-founder Subhabrata Debnath demonstrated a clip of an AI-generated character speaking in English. He then superimposed a German audio track, and within minutes the character was speaking fluent German, lips and jaw in sync.

Debnath said the technology preserves “the performance, identity and the speaking style of the person” while altering the face enough to make the dubbing look natural.

NeuralGarage’s AI technology was used last year to dub Yash Raj’s Hindi movie “War 2” into the Telugu language of south India. The production house didn’t respond to Reuters questions.

TECH MAJORS MEET THE RED CARPET

Global tech majors also want a piece of the action.

Google partnered with Bollywood director Shakun Batra in August to produce a five-part cinematic series using its Veo 3 video-generation and Flow AI tools to experiment with AI-powered filmmaking. Mira Lane, Google’s vice president of technology and society, told Reuters that AI could also allow independent artists to create complex sequences that “might otherwise be out of reach due to budget or logistical constraints.”

Collective has been working with Microsoft, which told Reuters it is providing AI computing power to help “shape the next wave of global storytelling” through such collaborations.

To bypass the limitations of standard text prompts, Collective uses a hybrid of physical recording and digital animation. Actors wear sensor-equipped motion-capture suits to record body movements as 3D data, while smartphones capture facial expressions. This data is fed into the AI pipeline, allowing for nuanced control over the AI-generated characters.

The ripples are reaching beyond the studio. Globally, festivals dedicated to screening AI-generated shorts have proliferated in cities including Los Angeles, Cannes, and Barcelona. India’s first took place in November at Mumbai’s Royal Opera House, where young storytellers walked the red carpet alongside a dancing robot.

And in February, Nvidia shared the stage with aspiring AI filmmakers at the second edition of India’s AI film fest in New Delhi. Pradeep Gupta, a global vice president of Nvidia, told the audience the company is working to slash computing costs so that anyone can “create something substantial without putting a lot of money” into production.

Anurag Kashyap, a Bollywood director, told Reuters he is concerned about the growth of AI in filmmaking in India and the lack of guardrails around its use. But he grudgingly conceded the economic case for studios to deploy the technology.

“In India, cinema isn’t about art. It’s purely business, so studios are going to use it to make mythologicals,” Kashyap said of AI. “Our audience is a sucker for it.”

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Additional reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Sunil Kataria. Editing by Aditya Kalra and David Crawshaw.)

((munsif.vengattil@thomsonreuters.com;))

Repeats with no changes to text

By Trixie Yap

SINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - India's diesel exports to Southeast Asia surged to the highest in more than seven years in March, shipping data showed, as traders pivoted supply to cover short positions and refiners cashed in on higher profits in Asia caused by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

The surge in exports could boost spot sale margins for Indian refiners who have purchased large volumes of prompt Russian crude to replace Middle East supply disrupted by the war.

About 1 million metric tons (7.45 million barrels) of diesel have been shipped on this trade route, according to data from analytics firm Kpler and three trade sources, with around half of the volumes bound for Singapore.

Around 90% of these volumes were shipped by Reliance Industries RELI.NS, Kpler data showed, operator of the world's largest refining complex.

Reliance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

SUPPLY PIVOTS AFTER NARROW EAST-WEST PRICE SPREAD

Traders tapped India's diesel supply for Southeast Asia and Australia after the Middle East conflict disrupted crude supplies to Asia, leading refineries to cut output and countries including China to ban exports of refined products.

"Asian buyers that usually rely on Chinese and northeast Asia must seek alternative supply, with India's Reliance being one of the main candidates in the region," analysts from consultancy FGE NexantECA said.

India is known as a swing supplier in global oil markets as it can sell its refined products either to Europe or Asia, whichever is more profitable.

These shipments will help to ease supply tightness going into April, traders said. Some analysts expect the trend to last in the near term despite the Indian government reinstating export taxes for diesel.

Sparta Commodities' analyst James Noel-Beswick said its arbitrage calculations suggested that the trade flow can continue into August at least.

"India appears firmly committed to keeping its refineries at capacity, and Washington's rather permissive stance on both Russian and Iranian purchases has given it the means to do so," he added.

The U.S. has issued temporary waivers for the sale of Russian and Iranian oil cargoes at sea to ease global prices.

Front month April east-west price spreads, the difference between Singapore paper swaps on a free on board basis and ICE gasoil futures, narrowed to an average discount of $20 a ton in the week of March 27, LSEG pricing data showed, with spreads trading at premiums for some sessions. LGOAEFSMc1

Traders typically deem a discount of less than $40 a ton to be more favourable for them to pivot cargoes to east of Suez markets instead of west.

(Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Florence Tan and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

((trixie.yap@thomsonreuters.com;))

Adds details on fiscal impact

By Chris Thomas and Nikunj Ohri

NEW DELHI, March 27 (Reuters) - India has slashed excise duties on petrol and diesel to protect consumers and curb a potential spike in inflation, while imposing windfall taxes on aviation fuel and diesel exports, amid volatile global oil markets due to the Iran war.

Global oil prices have surged past $100 per barrel after the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which ​serves as a conduit for 40% of India's crude oil imports, since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on February 28.

In a government order late Thursday, India's finance ministry reduced the special excise duty on petrol to 3 rupees ($0.0318) per litre from 13 rupees. It also cut the duty on diesel to zero from 10 rupees per litre.

The move comes ahead of elections next month in four Indian states and one federal territory, with voters very sensitive to higher prices.

India will lose 70 billion rupees ($739 million) a fortnight from the excise cuts, although it will recover part of this - 15 billion rupees - through separate export taxes on some fuel products, Vivek Chaturvedi, chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, told a press briefing.

The net hit to government finances will be 55 billion rupees per fortnight.

The yield on 10-year government bonds rose 7 basis points to 6.95%, its highest level in 20 months on concerns that the government may struggle to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.3% of GDP for the financial year beginning April.

The tax cuts also ease the burden for oil marketing companies. While fuel prices in India are technically deregulated, state-run oil companies, which control 90% of the retail network, do not always raise prices when crude climbs.

As a result, consumers are shielded from volatility, with either the government or the companies absorbing the increases.

"Government has taken a huge hit on its taxation revenues to ensure very high losses of oil companies, approximately 24 rupees a litre for petrol and 30 rupees a litre for diesel, at this time of sky high international prices, are reduced," Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a post on X.

The government said that at current crude rates, the combined daily under-recoveries being absorbed by oil firms stand at 24 billion rupees.

Shares of oil marketing companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS and HPCL HPCL.NS reversed early gains to close slightly higher.

WINDFALL TAX ON EXPORTS

The diesel export tax was set at 21.5 rupees a litre, along with a 29.5 rupees a litre tax on aviation fuel exports, the order said.

Between April 2025 and January 2026, India exported 14 million metric tons of gasoline and 23.6 million tons of gasoil. Most refiners have stopped exporting fuels. Reliance Industries RELI.NS is the country's biggest fuel exporter.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will ensure there is no shortage of petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

It will support oil marketing companies so that citizens are spared price hikes and ensure that jet fuel prices do not rise, she told news agency ANI.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, relies heavily on overseas supplies.

In a letter dated Thursday, the petroleum ministry said it will raise the allocation of liquefied petroleum gas to commercial and industrial users by 20%, taking total supply to 70% of pre-crisis levels.

The increase builds on an existing 50% allocation, with priority to sectors such as steel, automobiles, textiles and other essential industries. India had cut gas allocation for non-cooking purposes after the start of the Iran war.

India consumed 33.15 million tons of cooking gas last year, with imports covering about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government have stressed adequate arrangements are in place, including for fertiliser supplies for the summer sowing season and coal to meet rising electricity demand.

The government, in a separate statement, assured the public that retail petrol and diesel prices will not change.

($1 = 94.1980 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chris Thomas and Nikunj Ohri. Additional reporting by Tanvi Mehta, Aditi Shah and Rajesh Kumar Singh. Editing by YP Rajesh, Arun Koyyur and Mark Potter)

((tanvi.mehta@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 26 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• REJECTS RECENT MEDIA REPORTS THAT CO HAS PURCHASED CRUDE OIL OF IRANIAN ORIGIN

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Kane Wu, Aditya Kalra and Vibhuti Sharma

HONG KONG/NEW DELHI, March 25 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Platforms has held talks with 13 marquee foreign investors to sell down 8% of individual stakes in an upcoming Mumbai listing of the telecoms-to-AI company, sources familiar with the matter said.

Ambani's ​Jio Platforms, which houses the world's second-largest telecom company by users after China Mobile 600941.SS, is set to file for approval of its IPO in Mumbai as early as this week.

Big investors on the list include Meta, with a stake of 9.99%, and Google, with 7.73%, followed by Vista Equity Partners and KKR. Three Gulf sovereign funds, the Public Investment Fund, Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are also investors.

The stake sale "would be around 8% for everyone," said one of the two sources involved in the IPO process, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the discussions were confidential.

Reliance and the investors did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Reuters calculations show each investors' sale of 8% of their holdings effectively implies about 2.5% of Reliance Jio's total outstanding shares offered in the listing, as it has planned.

Meta selling 8% of its 9.99% holding would mean a 0.8% stake sale by the U.S. tech giant, for example.

While the talks have focused on each investor selling 8% of its holding, the final numbers could still change.

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

((Email: aditya.kalra@tr.com; X: @adityakalra;))

By Nidhi Verma and Siyi Liu

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, March 24 (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, has purchased 5 million barrels of Iranian crude, days after the U.S. temporarily removed sanctions on the oil, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The Indian refiner bought the oil from the National Iranian Oil Co., two of the sources said.

One of them said the crude was priced at a premium of about $7 a barrel to ICE Brent futures. It was not immediately clear when the oil would be delivered.

Iranian oil, which in recent years has mainly been bought by Chinese independent refiners, is often rebranded as originating from another country.

Reliance did not respond to emails seeking comment. NIOC could not be reached for comment.

The Trump administration on Friday issued a 30-day sanctions waiver for the purchase of Iranian oil already at sea. The waiver applies to oil loaded on any vessel, including tankers under sanctions, on or before March 20 and discharged by April 19.

The deal marks India's first purchase of Iranian oil since the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer halted imports from Iran in May 2019, months after Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

The purchase comes after Indian refiners snapped up more than 40 million barrels of Russian crude after the U.S. announced a temporary sanctions waiver this month to ease supply shortages.

Other Asian refiners including Indian state firms are making checks to see if they can purchase the oil, several sources have said. However, Asia's top refiner Sinopec 600028.SS does not intend to buy Iranian oil, a senior executive at the Chinese state giant said on Monday.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

((siyi.liu@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Praveen Paramasivam

March 23 (Reuters) - SLMG Beverages, Coca‑Cola's KO.N largest bottler in India, could raise some of its prices if rising packaging costs linked to the war in the Middle East are difficult to absorb, a senior executive at the firm said.

The war is pushing up costs for key packaging materials from plastic bottles to caps, labels and cardboard boxes — with some packaged water manufacturers already raising prices.

"If the war continues, the packaging material cost may continue to move up," Rahul Kumar, deputy CEO at SLMG said in an interview earlier this month, adding price increases would depend on factors including how competitors respond and how consumers react to higher prices.

The cost pressure comes after billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries RELI.NS revived a historic local cola brand, Campa, in 2023, tapping its vast retail network and a nationalist sentiment to ignite a price war.

There is limited room to raise prices in the highly competitive soda market, which includes several national and local players, Kumar said, adding there has not been a portfolio-wide price increase in the past 7–8 years.

He said SLMG will review prices in April.

SLMG RAMPS UP CAPACITY

Competition will boost India's soft drink market by bringing in new consumers, according to Kumar. Redseer Strategy Consultants estimates the country's non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages market could double to roughly $40 billion by 2030.

To tap the growth, SLMG — which accounts for more than 22% of Coca-Cola's India volumes — plans to invest between 10 billion rupees ($106.58 million) and 12 billion rupees in each of four new plants it plans to build over five years.

The bottler's sales climbed 49% to 67.73 billion rupees in fiscal year 2025, with net profit jumping 76% to 2.06 billion rupees, according to company database Tofler.

SLMG is now targeting net revenue of 100 billion rupees in 2026–27, as it expands in populous but lower‑income Indian states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, counting on low starting consumption levels and rising incomes to drive greater demand for its products there.

($1 = 93.8275 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

((Praveen.Paramasivam@thomsonreuters.com; +91 867-525-3569;))

By Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, March 20 (Reuters) - Tesla TSLA.O is preparing to enter India's industrial energy storage market, according to a job ad on its website, pitting it against companies controlled by Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani as they deepen investment in the sector as the grid shifts to cleaner power.

The new business will also mark Tesla's expansion in India beyond just electric cars, which it started selling in August.

The company already operates a Megapack business in the U.S. and other markets, supplying large-scale energy storage systems for industrial and utility users.

Tesla's new plan was revealed in a job ad on its website, which said it is looking to hire a business development lead in India to "develop and execute a comprehensive market expansion strategy for industrial energy storage solutions".

The candidate will shape its entry into India for "utility-scale energy storage", it added, without elaborating.

Reuters is first to report Tesla's plan. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Ambani's Reliance RS.N and Adani's group ADEL.NS also have ambitious plans for India's energy storage sector.

India has set a target to reach 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030 from more than 262 GW at the end of 2025. It needs devices that can store energy during off-peak hours, stabilise the grid and reduce carbon emissions.

The government is encouraging companies to invest in storage systems by providing fiscal incentives and is also working on a national roadmap to enable firms to meet the targets.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah, editing by Aditya Kalra and Louise Heavens)

((aditi.shah@tr.com; +91-11-4954 8023, +91-11-3015 8023; Reuters Messaging: twitter: @aditishahsays))

Recasts with comments from oil ministry

By Nidhi Verma

March 19 (Reuters) - India, the world's fourth-largest refiner, will review its fuel exports if needed to ensure availability in the local markets, a government official said on Thursday, amid global disruption and soaring oil prices stemming from the Iran war.

"Domestic consumption is priority, and the government will review (the export plan)," Sujata Sharma, a joint secretary in the federal petroleum ministry told a news conference.

India has ordered oil and gas companies to share full details of exports, imports and inventories with a government agency, as the South Asian nation seeks to shield consumers from shortages.

India has designated the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell to compile the information and all companies must share information regardless of any confidentiality obligations.

India has been hit hard by the jump in crude prices and disruption in oil and gas supplies, but unlike China it has not moved to ban exports of refined fuels.

The data will help India in taking faster and "more targeted interventions such as imposing export restrictions or calibrating export flows to meet its own energy security", said Prashant Vashisth, vice president at Moody's affiliate ICRA.

He said India can use its excess refining capacity to prioritise fuel supply to friendly or strategically aligned countries after meeting its local demand.

"Nowadays buyers are willing to pay a higher price. The question is of availability, which is beginning to outweigh prices," Vashisth said.

Any move to curtail fuel exports by India will hit Reliance Industries RELI.NS, the operator of the world's biggest refining complex, as other refiners have largely stopped exporting fuels.

All companies involved in the oil and gas supply chain including oil producers, importers, refiners, fuel and gas retailers, liquefied natural gas importers, pipeline operators, and petrochemical plants were ordered to provide PPAC with data.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, meets over 90% of its oil needs through purchases from overseas.

So far the federal government has said there are adequate crude supplies and refined fuel stocks to meet local demand.

However, the world's second-largest LPG importer is facing its worst cooking gas crisis in decades with shipments from the Strait of Hormuz almost halted due to the war.

India was sourcing more than 40% of its crude imports and 90% of its liquefied petroleum gas imports from the Middle East.

Indian refiners have bought millions of barrels of Russian oil floating on the high seas after Washington granted a sanctions waiver.

The country has invoked emergency powers ordering refiners to maximise production of LPG and cut sales to industry to avoid a shortage for its 333 million homes with LPG connections.

India last week asked consumers to avoid panic buying of LPG cylinders and shift to piped natural gas where possible.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Deepa Babington, Kevin Buckland, Alexandra Hudson)

((Akanksha.Khushi@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 17 (Reuters) - India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS aims to file a draft red herring prospectus for the initial public offering of its telecom unit, Jio Platforms, as early as the end of this month, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

(Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

((RajveerSingh.Pardesi@thomsonreuters.com;))

March 16 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd RELI.NS:

• RELIANCE INDUSTRIES SIGNS LANDMARK GREEN AMMONIA BINDING LONG-TERM OFFTAKE AGREEMENT WITH SAMSUNG C&T

• DEAL FOR SUPPLY OF GREEN AMMONIA OVER A 15-YEAR PERIOD COMMENCING IN SECOND HALF OF FY2029

• SUPPLY AND PURCHASE AGREEMENT (SPA) VALUED AT MORE THAN US$3 BILLION

Source text: ID:nBSE3hmvVZ

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;;))

March 13 (Reuters) - India has reduced the proportion of shares large companies must sell when listing on the stock exchange, paving the way for initial public offerings by the National Stock Exchange and Reliance Jio.

The regulator last year proposed to halve the minimum amount of shares large companies had to offer in their IPOs, allowing those valued at above 5 trillion rupees ($57 billion) after listing to sell just 2.5% of their paid-up capital. This has now been formally notified by the government, bringing it into force.

The changes were part of rules released late on Friday. Details of the changes are below:

• At least 2.5% of each class of equity shares can be offered to the public.

• A mandatory glide path has been put in place to reach a 25% public shareholding. Companies with a public shareholding of less than 15% at listing will have 5 years to reach 15% and 10 years to reach 25%.

• If the public float is more than 15% at listing, the company will have 5 years to reach 25%.

• For companies with a market capitalisation of between 1 trillion rupees and 5 trillion rupees, the minimum public float will be set at 2.75%.

• For companies with a market capitalisation of between 500 billion rupees and 1 trillion rupees, the minimum public float is set at 8%.

• Other provisions include a condition that if a company with a class of equity shares with superior voting rights is listing ordinary shares, it must also mandatorily list the shares having superior voting rights.

(Reporting by Ira Dugal; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

((kanjyik.ghosh@thomsonreuters.com))

Refiles to fix date in dateline to March 12

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, March 12 (Reuters) - The Iran war is rattling India's $5 billion packaged water market just ahead of the sweltering summer season.

One of the world's fastest growing bottled water markets is seeing some manufacturers hike prices for distributors, as supply disruptions linked to the war fuel higher costs in everything from plastic bottles to caps, labels and cardboard boxes.

Though retail prices are yet to feel the heat and bigger companies are absorbing the pain, about 2,000 smaller bottled water makers have increased rates for their resellers by around 1 rupee per bottle, a 5% hike, which will rise by a further 10% in coming days, according to the Federation of All India Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers' Association.

Consumers usually pay less than 20 rupees, or around 20 U.S. cents, for a one-litre bottle.

"There is chaos and within the next 4-5 days, this will start impacting customer prices," said Apurva Doshi, the federation's secretary general.

Rising oil prices have increased the cost of polymer, which is made from crude oil and is a key material for the industry's plastic bottles.

The cost of material used in making plastic bottles has risen by 50% to 170 rupees per kilogram, while the price of the caps has more than doubled to 0.45 rupees apiece. Even corrugated boxes, labels and adhesive tape are costing much more, industry letters showed.

Clean water is a privilege in the country of 1.4 billion people where researchers say 70% of the groundwater is contaminated, leaving people reliant on bottled water. Companies including Bisleri, Coca-Cola's KO.N Kinley, Pepsi's PEP.O Aquafina, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance RELI.NS and Tata all compete for a share of the $5 billion market.

The companies did not respond to Reuters request for comment.

PREMIUM WATER FACES HEAT TOO

Within the broad bottled water market, natural mineral water is a $400 million business in India and a new, fast-growing wellness product for India's wealthy.

The premium water segment accounted for 8% of the bottled water market last year in India, compared to just 1% in 2021, Euromonitor says.

Aava, which sells mineral water sourced from the foothills of the Aravalli mountains, has increased prices of its water bottles by 18% for resellers, Shiroy Mehta, CEO of the company, told Reuters.

"Most manufacturers are absorbing 40-50% of the cost to ensure that they don't lose clients. It's a poor situation for the beverage industry ahead of the summer season," he said.

The mass market, however, is dominated by companies that produce "drinking water" to be sold in 1-litre bottles to customers.

Clear Premium Water, a brand of India's Energy Beverages, said in a notice to its distributors there had been an "unprecedented and continuous surge" in prices of key raw materials used in packaging and production.

"It is no longer possible for us to absorb the escalating costs while maintaining existing product prices," the notice said.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

((Email: aditya.kalra@tr.com; X: @adityakalra;))

Recasts; adds details throughout

By Erwin Seba and Nicole Jao

HOUSTON, March 10 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the construction of a refinery on the southern U.S. border backed by India's Reliance Industries RELI.NS, operator of the world's biggest refining complex.

Trump made the announcement as drivers react to spiking gasoline prices since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, and while Republicans and Democrats prepare for midterm elections that could determine which party controls Congress through the last two years of his presidency.

"Thank you to our partners in India, and their largest privately held Energy Company, Reliance, for this tremendous Investment," Trump said on social media platform Truth Social.

The 168,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery will be built at the port of Brownsville and will offset $300 billion in the trade deficit with India, startup America First Refining said in a statement.

Reliance did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

"For the first time in half a century, the United States will build a new refinery designed specifically for American shale oil," said America First's chairman and founder, John V. Calce.

Many Gulf Coast refineries are unable to process light, sweet crude oil from fracking shale fields because they were configured in the last 40 years to run lower-cost heavy, sour crude, which has higher density and contains more sulfur.

A "global supermajor" has provided a "9-figure investment" at a "10-figure valuation," America First said.

Trump named the investor as Reliance, India's largest private-sector company.

Reliance has signed "a binding 20-year offtake term sheet" with America First, meaning it will buy products the refinery produces. That will help cut India's trade surplus with the U.S., which has been a Trump grievance.

America First said it plans to break ground in the second quarter of this year.

INDUSTRY EXPERTS QUESTION NEED

Analysts were skeptical about the need for a new refinery on the Gulf Coast, which is already home to eight of the country's 10 largest refineries.

"Initial announcements like this by the Trump administration have a lot of hyperbole," said Refined Fuels Analytics managing director John Auers.

The new refinery will "fuel U.S. markets, strengthen our national security, boost American energy production, deliver billions of dollars in economic impact, and will be the cleanest refinery in the world," Trump said on Truth Social.

Gulf Coast refineries have advantages over plants elsewhere in the U.S., said Kloza Advisors principal analyst Tom Kloza.

"If Brownsville is indeed the location for the build, I would assume that they are looking at an export refinery," Kloza said. "There is not much local demand and there are not pipeline connections to take Brownsville product elsewhere."

U.S. refineries are the major suppliers of motor fuel and heating oil to South America, Kloza said, and have lower costs for natural gas, hydrogen and domestic crude oil.

"Let's see what develops," he said. "Reliance is a very successful company."

Reliance operates the 1.4 million bpd refining complex in Jamnagar, India, the world's largest. The firm, which reported $125 billion in revenue last year, also operates businesses in retail, new energy, digital services, media and entertainment.

Since late 2025, two California refineries with combined capacity of 284,000 bpd have permanently closed, citing the state's regulation of fossil fuel industries.

The cost of construction of refineries or additions to refineries in the past decade has averaged about $40,000 per barrel of capacity, or about $6.7 billion for 168,000 barrels.

U.S. refining capacity was 18.4 million bpd at the end of 2024, showed data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is set to grow through gradual increase in capacity into the 2030s, Auers said.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba, Nicole Jao, Arathy Somasekhar Kanishka Singh, Jasper Ward and Timothy Gardner; Additional reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Costas Pitas, Stephen Coates and Christopher Cushing)

((erwin.seba@thomsonreuters.com; +1 832 746 4269; Reuters Messaging: erwin.seba.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))

Adds details throughout

March 9 (Reuters) - Indian refiners slumped on Monday as a widening U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed Brent crude to a nearly four-year high, threatening their near-term earnings and raising the risk of further government intervention.

State-run Indian Oil IOC.NS dipped 4.6%, Hindustan Petroleum HPCL.NS slid 4.9% and Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS dropped 5.4%, with BPCL heading for its steepest fall since June 2024.

The rout dragged the Nifty oil and gas index .NIFOILGAS down 2.7% and the energy index .NIFTYENR 2.1% lower, while the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI slid 2.8%. The oil and gas index has fallen 6.6% since the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran last week.

India's top refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS was down 0.4% after slipping 2.5% earlier.

UBS said Indian oil marketing companies are exposed to the crude spike because their fuel sales far exceed their production - roughly double for IOC and BPCL, and even more for HPCL.

The brokerage downgraded IOC and BPCL to "neutral" and HPCL to "sell" from "buy".

It also reduced fiscal 2027 profit estimates by 19% for IOC, 15% for BPCL and 46% for HPCL.

RISKS OF PROLONGED CONFLICT

Oil prices surged about 26% to $119.5 per barrel - the highest since July 2022 - as some major producers cut supplies and fears ​of prolonged shipping disruptions gripped the market.

Iraq and Kuwait have begun reducing oil output, adding to earlier liquefied natural gas (LNG) cuts from Qatar as the war disrupted shipments out of the Middle East.

Citi on Monday warned refiners' earnings will hinge on how long the geopolitical shock persists, flagging risks from any potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz and shutdowns in Qatar's LNG output - each supplying roughly half of India's crude and LNG needs.

India, the world's second-biggest importer of LPG, consumed 33.15 million metric tons of the cooking gas last year, with imports meeting about two-thirds of demand. Middle Eastern suppliers account for 85%-90% of India's LPG inflows.

New Delhi on Friday invoked emergency powers directing refiners to maximise liquefied petroleum gas production to prevent a cooking-gas shortage following supply disruptions.

Prolonged turmoil could force additional government intervention, including export curbs, duties on refined products or direct budgetary support, Citi added.

Meanwhile, Indian companies raised LPG prices for the first time in about a year on Friday, tracking global benchmarks as the war crimps flows from the Middle East.

India imports more than 80% of its crude oil needs and is the world's third largest oil importer.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

((Kashish.tandon@thomsonreuters.com; 8800437922; Yagnoseni.Das@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Trixie Yap

SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) - Two tankers loaded with fuel from Reliance Industries in India that were headed to Europe made u-turns and are now bound for Asia, according to two trade sources and shiptracking data, as the refiner capitalises on firm Asian margins with the Iran war squeezing supply.

The Advantage Life, which loaded around 100,000 metric tons (745,000 barrels) of diesel at Reliance's Jamnagar refinery on February 28, is currently bound for Singapore, according to Kpler, LSEG data and two trade sources.

The Navig8 Honor, which is carrying around 75,000 tons (591,000 barrels) of jet fuel and was initially headed to West-of-Suez markets, also turned around and is heading for Southeast Asia, according to Kpler shiptracking data and one of the two sources.

Reliance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Asian buyers are rushing to secure fuel supplies to offset production losses from expected refinery run cuts as the near-halt in traffic in the Strait of Hormuz constrains oil supply to the region.

Singapore jet fuel refining margins hit a record on March 5 of $80 a barrel. JETSGCKMc1

Arbitrage margins favour sending jet fuel barrels from India to Asia rather than Europe now, given the tightening supply in East-of-Suez markets, according to Vortexa's head of APAC analysis Ivan Mathews.

Asia's jet fuel production is expected to drop on "lower crude flows to Asia, prompting refinery run cuts and weaker fuel output in the region," while "restrictions in Strait of Hormuz flows will reduce Middle East Gulf exports" and further tighten availability, he added.

Reliance has this week been offering spot diesel and jet fuel loading from end-March to a handful of buyers in Asia, cashing in on the higher premiums and urgent demand, four other sources with knowledge of the activities said.

Discussions were at premiums of $15 to $17 per barrel, linked to Middle East prices on a free-on-board basis, two of the four sources said, compared with small premiums in February.

Indian refiners are buying prompt Russian crude oil cargoes as the South Asian nation seeks to navigate an oil supply crunch, with the U.S. Treasury Department granting a 30-day waiver on Thursday allowing India to buy Russian oil stuck at sea.

OTHER TANKERS ALSO U-TURN

Two other jet fuel tankers, the Elandra Tern and the Burri, also turned towards Asia from their original destination of Europe, the sources said.

The two vessels had loaded jet fuel from either Duqm port in Oman or Ruwais in Abu Dhabi before the war in Iran started on February 28, according to Kpler data and two trade sources.

(Reporting by Trixie Yap; Additional reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)

((trixie.yap@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, March 5 (Reuters) - Refiners in India have started tapping Russian oil aboard vessels floating off the country's coast to make up for the loss of Middle Eastern crude due to the Iran war, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

India is vulnerable to energy supply shocks, with crude stocks covering only about 25 days of demand.

India was the top buyer of Russian seaborne crude after Moscow's 2022 Ukraine invasion, but in January its refiners started to reduce purchases, helping New Delhi avoid 25% tariffs imposed by Washington and clinch an interim trade deal.

On Thursday, the Suezmax tanker Odune carrying about a million barrels of Russian oil berthed at eastern Paradip port for delivery to state refiner Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, according to a shipping source. The vessel had been floating in Indian waters, the person said.

IOC is also scheduled to receive about 700,000 barrels of Russian oil loaded on the Spring Fortune at Vadinar port in western India on Saturday, the source said.

A source at Indian Oil said his company is expediting purchases of Russian oil, including that loaded on vessels floating around India.

Indian Oil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

About 9.5 million barrels of Russian crude is floating near Indian waters and able to arrive within weeks, an industry source with direct knowledge of Russian trade told Reuters.

A source at another Indian refiner said his firm was also considering buying Russian oil floating near India.

"Should Middle Eastern inflows tighten, Indian refiners could pivot back toward Russian grades relatively quickly," said Sumit Ritolia, analyst at ship-tracking firm Kpler.

Kpler tracking shows about 30 million barrels of Russian oil available and loaded on vessels in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea region and Singapore Strait, including volumes in floating storage, he said.

"Some of these vessels have not yet declared their destination ... If Indian refiners won't act, all these can start moving to China in a day or two," Ritolia said.

​

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

((nidhi.verma@thomsonreuters.com; X: @nidhi712;))

Adds graphic, context and data in paragraphs 7-13

By Marianna Parraga

March 3 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil exports fell 6.5% in February from a month earlier to some 737,000 barrels per day as more shipments to the United States and Europe could not fully offset the loss of what had been the OPEC country's main market, China, according to vessel monitoring data and documents from state company PDVSA.

Washington has controlled the South American nation's oil exports since early January, when U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Trading houses Trafigura and Vitol and U.S. producer Chevron CVX.N are now exporting the lion's share of Venezuela's barrels under U.S. authorizations.

Even as Chevron and the traders sent more cargoes to the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean last month, the increase was not enough to compensate for a 67% decline in exports to Asia, which averaged some 48,000 bpd, compared with 145,000 bpd in January and more than 600,000 bpd last year.

A lack of very large crude carriers to transport bigger cargoes also limited exports from Venezuela, whose main oil port, Jose, handles about 70% of total shipments, creating a need for larger vessels to cut down loading times.

Overall, oil exports in February were 6.5% lower than in January and stood 19% below the same month of 2025. The trading houses exported a total of 26.9 million barrels since they began marketing and shipping the country's crude and fuel last month, according to the data, of some 40 million barrels sold so far under U.S. oversight.

Venezuela's direct exports to the U.S. rose 32% to about 375,000 bpd, while shipments to Europe increased ninefold to 158,000 bpd, with Spain's Repsol REP.MC leading purchases in that region.

Chevron's exports to its own refineries and to others in the U.S. and elsewhere fell 5% to 209,000 bpd in February. The U.S. major, which is the main partner of state company PDVSA, last month sold its first cargo of Venezuelan heavy crude to India's refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS since 2023, which could soon lead to larger exports.

With at least half a dozen supertankers navigating to Venezuela to pick up cargoes, exports are expected to accelerate in March, particularly to India, the data showed.

Venezuela's oil exports averaged 847,000 bpd last year, with China taking three quarters of the total. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the Asian country can buy Venezuelan oil but at fair market prices.

The U.S.-Iran conflict and fresh licenses granted by the U.S. Treasury Department in recent weeks also are expected to expand the pool of companies exporting and refining Venezuelan oil, which could lead to cargoes reaching new destinations.

Faster exports could help drain inventories, which remained high at the end of February at 12.7 million barrels in Jose, the second highest monthly level since 2025, and 26 million barrels in the country, according to data from consultancy Kpler.

Venezuela's imports of naphtha both for diluting its extra heavy oil and for producing gasoline rose to 105,000 bpd, from 32,000 bpd the previous month, the shipping data showed.

The country's crude production increased to some 1.05 million bpd in early March, from 878,000 bpd in early January amid oil output cuts, according to independent figures.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Reuters staff; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle and Bill Berkrot)

((marianna.parraga@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713 371 7559; Reuters Messaging: @mariannaparraga))

** Reliance Industries' RELI.NS new businesses, such as battery manufacturing, set to meaningfully contribute to FY earnings from current fiscal year, JP Morgan says

** Adds new businesses expected to become significant EBITDA driver over next 3-4 years

** Notes co's battery packs, including 5 kWh and 10 kWh systems, could see large-scale adoption once production ramps up

** Maintains "overweight", with PT of 1,675 rupees, saying manufacturing ramp-up, commissioning remain key catalysts for growth

** RELI down 0.9% at 1,394.20 rupees; Nifty 50 .NSEI trading 0.4% lower

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 1,702 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, RELI down 11.3%

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

((Kashish.tandon@thomsonreuters.com))

Updates for mid-day trade

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Indian share benchmarks overcame initial jitters and rose by the mid-day trading session on Friday, as heavyweight stocks clawed back some of the previous session's losses.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI added 0.54% to 25,592.6, and the BSE Sensex .BSESN rose 0.48% to 82,897.3, as of 12:11 p.m. IST. They had fallen about 0.3% at the open, extending a 1.5% decline in the previous session, their steepest single-day drop in over two weeks.

Fifteen of the 16 major sectors traded higher. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 added 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

"What we are seeing today is more of a tactical bounce from Nifty 50's 200-day simple moving average (SMA) of around 25,300 points," said Naveen Vyas, head of family office at Anand Rathi Global Finance.

Heavyweights Reliance Industries RELI.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS rose 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively, on Friday, after a 2.2% and 1.4% drop in the previous session.

Meanwhile, the volatility index - a measure of the market's expected volatility for the next 30 days - spiked this week to 14.36, just shy of an eight-month high hit in the run-up to the federal budget on February 1.

This comes after Brent crude oil prices rose to $72 per barrel amid tensions in the Middle East. Higher crude prices are a negative for India as it is the world's third-largest crude oil importer. O/R

"We are still not out of the woods. If Brent crude surpasses $75 per barrell and stays at that level for a couple of months, that could put further pressure on Indian equities," said Vyas.

The IT index .NIFTYIT was the sole loser among major sectors, down 0.5% as ongoing concerns over the impact of AI-linked disruption on earnings continued to weigh.

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Harikrishnan Nair)

((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))

Feb 19 (Reuters) -

• INDIA'S RELIANCE INDUSTRIES CHAIR: JIO, RELIANCE TOGETHER TO INVEST 10 TRLN RUPEES OVER NEXT 7 YEARS IN AI

Further company coverage: RELI.NS

((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))

By Vibhuti Sharma

MUMBAI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Global private equity investors like KKR and Blackstone have a new investment hotspot in India: cricket.

The Indian Premier League, the world's richest cricket league, counts Bollywood stars, Indian tycoons and spirits maker Diageo DGE.L among its backers, but is now attracting major private equity firms with the prospect of rapidly rising revenue and profits and massive viewership globally.

The business value of the league, popularly called the IPL, surged to a record $18.5 billion last year, U.S.-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey says.

That's much smaller than America's National Football League (NFL) valued at $227 billion and the National Basketball Association (NBA) worth $165 billion, but on a per-match basis the IPL is now the world's second-most valuable sports league after the NFL.

KKR and Blackstone are eyeing stakes in the winner of last season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), two banking sources said. KKR is also reviewing a possible stake in the Rajasthan Royals team, while Swiss-based PE firm Partners Group is considering at least one team for investment, sources said.

It was a blockbuster IPL deal by European private equity firm CVC Capital that triggered the new wave of interest among investors, bankers say. CVC sold a majority stake in the Gujarat Titans, netting a return of more than 350% in dollar terms just four years after acquiring it. The deal valued the team at $900 million.

"India's structural economic growth should continue to support long-term value creation," said Siddharth Patel, a managing partner at CVC Capital.

"Combined with the scarcity of IPL franchises, it is clear why there is such intense investment interest from both industrial groups, family offices and private equity investors.”

Since the CVC deal, several enquiries have come in from private equity clients in the U.S. and Europe for IPL stakes, said Harsh Talikoti, a sports deals specialist at Houlihan Lokey in Mumbai.

"The IPL model proved you can generate serious profit," he said.

Blackstone, KKR, Partners Group and Royal Challengers Bengaluru declined to comment, while Rajasthan Royals did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The sources declined to be named as the talks are private.

CENTRALISED POOL AND BROADCAST RIGHTS BOUNTY

The IPL has reshaped the game in a country where the top cricketers are often worshipped. Last year, IPL had a record 1.19 billion viewers across digital and TV, far larger than the NFL.

Each year after an auction for global players, IPL teams compete in matches in the 20-over format of the game. The next season starts March 26.

Key factors driving investor interest in the league are a doubling in the value of broadcast rights to more than $6 billion in the most recent auction in 2022, rising franchise revenues and the Indian cricket board BCCI's pooled revenue-sharing model that bolsters team revenues.

The board pools media rights and league sponsorship funds, keeps half, and distributes the rest equally among the teams - a structure far more centralised and evenly shared than, say, in the NBA.

The model ensures each team is well-funded to acquire players, and with regular player auctions, any team can contend for the title in a season, CVC's Patel said. That helps "maintain strong audience engagement and provides franchises with predictable economics through the media rights cycle."

Mohit Burman, an Indian businessman who co-owns the Punjab Kings team with Bollywood star Preity Zinta, said his sponsorship revenue grew 30% a year, but the key lure for private equity firms was the revenue-sharing model.

"The IPL can certainly rival - and in some cases outperform - U.S. leagues on investor returns, even if the absolute scale differs," Burman told Reuters.

Every IPL franchise earns around $55 million alone from the board's pool annually, he said. Ticket sales and other sponsorship earnings are on top of this.

"The asset class has clearly come of age," Burman said.

The BCCI and other IPL teams did not respond to Reuters' queries.

THE INVESTMENT RISKS

Reliance and Disney DIS.N merged their India businesses in 2024, and now together own the streaming and TV broadcast rights for IPL until 2027 which cost $6.2 billion. Jefferies analysts say the per-match value just on those rights makes IPL the second-highest valued globally after the NFL.

But there are risks for investors, too.

With similar leagues finding traction in South Africa, UAE and Australia, cricketers must navigate an increasingly crowded franchise calendar alongside their international commitments.

The biggest overhang is the worry that the Disney-Reliance merger will mean less competition and could result in fewer dollars for teams in the 2027 broadcast auction.

Indian billionaire Sanjiv Goenka doesn't agree. He said in an interview last year that his 2021 acquisition of an IPL team for $781 million is a "trophy business" and broadcast rights will only get pricier.

Many investors, including Goenka's Group and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, bet a total of 500 million pounds last year in the England and Wales Cricket Board's hundred-ball league.

RISING TEAM REVENUES

The NFL opened its teams for private equity investors in 2024, and the NBA allows such investments but with strict ownership caps. IPL has no such limits, permitting greater private capital play.

Team revenue, earnings growth and the limited number of teams are big allures. There are 10 teams in the IPL, compared to 32 in the NFL.

A Reuters analysis of regulatory disclosures showed at least five IPL teams more than doubled their revenue, on an absolute basis, since 2022, with two of them even doubling their profits. Three other franchises also recorded a doubling of profits - but not revenue - in the period.

Kolkata Knight Riders, part-owned by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, reported revenue of $76.8 million for 2023-24, up 119% from the previous year. Net profit rose six times to $19.4 million.

Sumat Chopra, private equity head at consultancy Kearney which has advised clients on the IPL, said there's more upside as marquee players bolster team revenues. Top players like India's Virat Kohli and Australia's Pat Cummins play the IPL.

"IPL franchise valuations are likely to compound steadily over time, supported by rising media economics."

($1 = 90.7500 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Mumbai; Additional reporting by Amlan Chakraborty; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Sonali Paul)

((Vibhuti.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))