Reliance Industries Ltd experienced a 12.5 per cent drop in its March quarter net profit, primarily due to the global energy crisis impacting its oil and chemicals sector, even as its telecom and retail units, including Jio Platforms, demonstrated robust growth.
Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters
Key Points
- Reliance Industries Ltd’s net profit for the March quarter fell by 12.5 per cent to Rs 16,971 crore, down from Rs 19,407 crore a year prior.
- The decline in Reliance’s profit is attributed to the global energy crisis, which significantly impacted its core oil and chemicals business.
- Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance, reported a 13 per cent increase in profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 7,935 crore for the March quarter.
- Jio Platforms’ revenue from operations grew by 12.5 per cent, and its average revenue per user (ARPU) rose by 3.8 per cent to Rs 214.
- For the full fiscal year, Reliance Industries’ net profit increased by 16 per cent to Rs 80,775 crore.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 12.5 per cent fall in its March quarter net profit as the world’s largest energy crisis hit its mainstay oil and chemicals business, undoing gains in consumer-facing telecom and retail units.
Its net profit of Rs 16,971 crore in January-March – the fourth and final quarter of 2025-26 fiscal year – compared with Rs 19,407 crore earnings in the same period a year back, according to the company’s stock exchange filing.
Quarterly Performance Overview
The profit was also lower quarter-on-quarter against Rs 18,645 crore earnings in October-December 2025.
The total income rose to Rs 3.03 lakh crore in Q4 from Rs 2.69 lakh crore a year ago.
For the full year, its net profit was Rs 80,775 crore, 16 per cent higher than Rs 69,648 crore in 2024-25.
Jio Platforms’ Strong Growth
Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the banking licence of Paytm Payments Bank, effective Friday, due to persistent non-compliance with regulatory norms and operations deemed detrimental to depositors’ interests, marking a significant development for the Indian fintech sector.
The RBI on Friday announced the cancellation of banking licence issued to Paytm Payments Bank for non-compliance with norms, saying the affairs of the bank were conducted in a manner detrimental to the interest of its depositors.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will make an application for winding up of the bank before the high court.
The bank failed to comply with the conditions stipulated in the Payments Bank licence issued to it, the central bank said.
Regulatory Scrutiny and Non-Compliance
Paytm Payments Bank, part of Vijay Shekhar Sharma-promoted fintech firm Paytm, came under the regulatory scanner on multiple occasions earlier, including in March 2022 when the central bank barred it from onboarding new customers.
The licence was cancelled effective from the close of business hours on Friday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said, adding that Paytm Payments Bank has enough liquidity to repay its entire deposit liability upon winding up.
The RBI said the affairs of the bank were conducted in a manner detrimental to its own interests as well as its depositors.
“The general character of the management of the bank is prejudicial to the interest of depositors as also the public interest… no useful purpose or public interest would be served by allowing the bank to continue…,” the RBI said in a statement.
Paytm Payments Bank was not complying with certain norms of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, it added.
Impact and Future Operations
According to the central bank, Paytm Payments Bank Ltd is prohibited from conducting the business of “banking” or any additional business specified under the Banking Regulation Act with immediate effect.
Paytm Payments Bank commenced operations as a payments bank with effect from May 23, 2017.
The Reserve Bank had issued a licence to the bank to carry on the business of payments bank in the country.
The bank has been under the RBI lens over the past many years.
Previously, the bank was directed to stop onboarding new customers with effect from March 11, 2022 amid “material supervisory concerns” observed in the bank.
The bank was also directed to appoint an IT audit firm to conduct a comprehensive System Audit of its IT system.
Thereafter, on January 31, 2024 and February 16, 2024, certain business restrictions were also imposed on the bank, including disallowing any further deposits/credits/ top-ups in existing customer accounts, prepaid instruments, and wallets. One97 Communications Ltd (OCL) owns the Paytm brand.
