RIL has no plans to enter "corporate" or "contract" farming

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Monday, January 4, 2021, said it has not entered any corporate" or "contract" farming in the past, and have absolutely no plans to enter this business. It also said, that neither Reliance nor any of its subsidiaries have purchased any agricultural land, directly or indirectly, in Punjab/Haryana or anywhere else in India, for the purpose of "corporate" or "contract" farming. We have absolutely no plans to do so, either.

The company in a statement today said, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), or any other affiliate of our parent company, i.e., Reliance Industries Limited have not done any "corporate" or "contract" farming in the past, and have absolutely no plans to enter this business.

Talking about its subsidiary Reliance Retail, RIL said, Reliance Retail is an unmatched leader in organised retail business in India and retails products of all categories including food grains and staples, fruits and vegetables, items of daily use, apparels, medicines, electronic products of various brands belonging to independent manufacturers and suppliers in the country. However, it does not purchase any food grains directly from farmers. It has never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain an unfair advantage over farmers or sought that its suppliers buy from farmers at less than remunerative prices, nor will it ever do so.

The company in a writ petition through its subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), to be filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court today, has sought the urgent intervention of Government authorities to bring a complete stop to the illegal acts of vandalism by miscreants. These acts of violence have endangered the lives of thousands of its employees and caused damage and disruption to the vital communications infrastructure, sales and service outlets run by its subsidiaries in the two states, Punjab and Haryana.

In a media statement, RIL has said, the miscreants indulging in vandalism have been instigated and aided by vested interests and our business rivals. Taking advantage of the ongoing farmers' agitation near the national capital, these vested interests have launched an incessant, malicious and motivated vilification campaign against Reliance, which has absolutely no basis in truth.

The falsehood of the campaign becomes crystal clear from the following irrefutable facts, which we have placed before the Honourable High Court. These facts establish that Reliance has nothing whatsoever to do with the three farm laws currently debated in the country, and in no way benefits from them. As such, the sole nefarious purpose of linking the name of Reliance to these laws is to harm our businesses and damage our reputation.

Talking about the farmers the company said, We at Reliance have immense gratitude and the greatest respect for India's kisans, who are the 'ANNA DATA' of 1.3 billion Indians. Reliance and its affiliates are committed to doing everything to enrich and empower them. As customers of their services, we believe in building a strong and equal partnership with Indian farmers on the basis of shared prosperity, inclusive development and an equitable New India."

It further added, therefore, Reliance and its affiliates fully share and support the aspiration of Indian farmers to get a fair and profitable price on a predictable basis for what they produce with exemplary hard work, innovation and dedication. Reliance seeks significant augmentation of their incomes on a sustainable basis and pledges to work towards this goal. Indeed, we shall insist on our suppliers to strictly abide by the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism, and/or any other mechanism for a remunerative price for farm produce, as may be determined and implemented by the government.

Farmers, thousand in number, especially from Punjab and Haryana, are staging a sit-in along Delhi's borders since November 26, 2020, and are demanding a complete rollback of the three farm laws and a guarantee that the MSP system will not be done away with.

The farmers' union leaders and the government has had held a number of talks since then the talks have ended without any result. Even the two are scheduled to meet today. In the last talk held on December 30, 2020, the Centre and farmer unions agreed on issues related to the electricity act and stubble burning but there was no agreement on the two key demand, namely legal guarantee for MSP and withdrawal of the three farm laws.