Intellectual Capital

Fostering Wealth through Innovation

Highlights FY 2020-21

900+

Researchers and scientists

91

Patent applications filed

`2,572 crore

R&D expenditure

`320 crore

Value benefit derived

137

Patents granted

28,000+

Engineers in technical roles

Reliance has always endeavoured to deliver on its societal and business goals through new ideas, innovation and pioneering technology. It has its pulse on evolving customer needs through continuous engagement, which is at the centre of its product development roadmap and innovation initiatives.

Over the years, Reliance has transitioned from being a smart buyer to a flagship developer of technology to support its diverse businesses and create value for every stakeholder.

Reliance has more than 900 researchers and scientists from world’s top institutes working on developing next-gen technology solutions to solve some of the most pressing Indian and global challenges. The Company has developed functional competencies through a robust global network. It has also established an ecosystem to incubate, harness and progress innovative and feasible ideas. Its R&D facilities are equipped with new-age technologies and advanced infrastructure that accelerate experimentation and development of innovative products. It encourages path-breaking thought leadership and innovation beyond its R&D teams to foster a culture of innovation across the Company.

The Company acknowledges that the first three industrial revolutions based on fossil fuels have disturbed the natural carbon cycle of the planet. It recognises that the Fourth Industrial Revolution offers an opportunity to repair and restore the earth. Reliance believes that new ideas, new materials, environment-friendly energy sources and digitisation will bring about the paradigm shift required to achieve its Net Carbon Zero target by 2035. Through its intellectual capital, Reliance not only focuses on business growth but also contributes to UN SDGs. The Company’s R&D efforts endeavour to improve agricultural productivity, use CO2 as a valuable feedstock, provide access to the internet at an affordable price and reimagine entire energy ecosystems. Reliance is using its R&D skills and competencies to identify new ways to detect, protect and treat COVID-19 patients and find solutions to help communities at large stay safe from the pandemic.

Leveraging its Intellectual Capital to Fight COVID-19

  • The Reliance R&D team designed a process to produce sanitisers aligned with WHO specifications at 20% of market cost.
  • The team is working with various CSIR labs to certify Nexar polymer, which has shown the ability to destroy the lipid layer of various viruses and bacteria.
  • Reliance developed novel costeffective diagnostic kits called ‘R-Green’ and ‘R-Green Pro’ for COVID-19 detection. The kits have received ICMR approval.
  • The Company submitted a proposal for the application of Niclosamide as a potential drug against COVID-19.
  • Reliance is working to address insufficient ventilator supply in emergency rooms across hospitals in India by deploying a concept developed in Italy, which enables CPAP machine with a 3D-printed charlotte valve and special snorkelling mask.
  • Reliance foresaw the significant rise in demand for onsite oxygen as the pandemic rages. It has started working on value-engineered robust design for oxygen generators capable of producing 5-7 litres of oxygen per minute with a purity of 90-95%.

Innovation and Technology

Reliance believes that innovation and technology are key pillars of growth. The Company’s focus on innovation has enabled it to grow from a humble textile trading firm to a Fortune 500 company. Now ranked among the world’s best, Reliance nurtures an entrepreneurial and innovation-led mindset that equips it and the country to boldly venture into the future. At Reliance, R&D investments have resulted in several breakthrough technologies and a diverse patent portfolio. The Company’s robust internal Intellectual Property (IP) governance framework ensures that these patents are aligned with the Company’s business goals. In addition, an IP governance framework helps it adhere to compliance requirements.

Research and Technology (R&T)

The role of the R&T unit at Reliance is to create innovative products and processes to augment the profitability and growth of the Company by creating stakeholder value and providing a long-term competitive advantage. In line with the Company’s core goal of solving societal problems, the unit also helps businesses broaden reach and transform lives.

Clean Energy

  • Reliance R&D has been operating a pilot facility where it converts sunlight, CO2 and seawater to renewable biocrude. The plant has been running continuously without crashing for more than four years, a world record.
  • A catalyst that can be used to convert high-ash Indian coal to highvalue syngas has been developed by the R&D team.
  • Reliance is testing a High Temperature-Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cell system on simulated Jio towers.

Circular Economy

  • Reliance is committed to pioneering circular economy practices and become one of the leading plastic recyclers in the world.
  • It is using waste plastic in road constructions and developing bio-plastic through the catalytic gasification process.
  • The Company has developed a catalytic process that can convert plastic waste to stable oil, which can be processed in refineries or petrochemical plants to produce plastics again.
  • Reliance Catalytic Hydrothermal Liquefaction (RCAT-HTL) technology converts any organic waste and biomass into renewable crude. The renewable crude can be further processed to produce transportation fuel. The technology is ready for commercialisation and has the potential to significantly contribute to the Company’s Net Carbon Zero target.
  • Reliance is addressing the environmental impact of discarded PET based fabric by separating PET from mixed fabric blends and converting it back to fibre and fabric.
  • The Company’s R&D team is developing an in-house technology to covert waste recyclable polyester material into valuable chemicals
  • The team has also developed a waste PVC based adhesive.

Climate Action

  • Reliance has developed a catalyst to convert methanol and CO2 to high-value Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) product.
  • The Company is also developing a sorbent based circulating fluidised bed process for concentrating CO2

Bio-innovation

  • Reliance has pioneered synthetic biology led innovation for next-gen biomaterials and food ingredients to create new business opportunities in food, agriculture, material and health.
  • Its expertise in synthetic biology has helped the Company develop alternatives for conventional food and feed ingredients, with one of the lowest carbon footprints.
  • It is working on bio-innovations to increase agriculture productivity by combining its expertise in photosynthesis research with AI and ML tools.
  • Reliance is working on using prediction systems for novel agriculture solutions and synthetic biology product development using CRISPR technology.
  • It is using the Bio Coal Bed Methane (Bio-CBM) process to turn un-minable coal to methane. Methane can help meet India’s burgeoning energy needs through cleaner energy.
  • Reliance is developing sustainable biomaterials and polymers (such as nanocellulose, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and high-strength silk, among others), which can be produced on an algae platform using CO2.

Industry and Infrastructure

  • Reliance has developed a new technology for functionalisation of the elastomer. It has developed a new class of ionic cross-linked elastomeric materials, which provides excellent adhesion to rubber, metal, wood substrates and plastic.
  • The R&D team is developing carbon fibre composites to make lightweight automotive body parts.
  • Reliance has developed internally plasticised PVC (IP-PVC) for specialised application and polymer composites (disentangled high molecular weight polyethylene) for lightweight vehicle and body armour
  • The Company’s R&D and Petro Chemical business have jointly developed thermoset composite solutions that can be coated on surfaces as a protection from corrosive environments.

Oil to Chemicals (O2C)

  • Reliance R&D team developed a new Multizone Catalytic Cracking (MCC) process to convert a wide range of distressed hydrocarbon feedstock and/or neat crude to high-value propylene, ethylene and BTX (Benzene, Toluene and Xylene) without producing any fuels. This technology is a foundation for the Company’s O2C sustainability plan. A 5 KBPSD MCC demonstration plant design is also in progress.
  • Reliance developed low-cost anti-coking and sulfiding additive Disulfide Oil (DSO), which is an effective alternative to specialty additives such as Di-methyl Di-sulphide. It has received several awards for this patented technology and started commercial production of the DSO.
  • The Company developed an inhouse FCC catalyst to improve conversion and propylene yield. It has also developed a catalyst for high-performance material, a slurry ethylene polymerisation process to produce bimodal pipe and blow moulding grade HDPE, novel cobalt-based catalyst for linear PBR grade and a bimetallic catalyst to replace vanadium.
  • Reliance developed the Reliance Olefins Removal Catalyst (RELORCAT), a zeolite-based adsorbent for BI reduction in aromatics. RELORCAT is regenerable, less costly and has a better life cycle.
  • The Company built an online corrosion-monitoring tool using the dynamic diffusion reaction model.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

  • Reliance is using facial recognition technology to comply with DoT KYC norms.
  • Jio is the first telecom network globally to roll out VoLTE at scale.
  • Reliance co-developed an IIoT device to monitor the health of rotary equipment to reduce maintenance cost. It aims to bring transparency and traceability in goods transportation through investments and research in blockchain.
  • The Company implemented several AI/ML projects in the areas of polymers, algal cultivation and catalyst development.

Technology Absorption

  • The Reliance R&D team developed a catalyst for the improvement of the cycle length of DHT units.
  • The team designed a low- cost process for extraction of valuable metals from gasification slag.
  • The team also developed ICP and Homo Grades PP with Reliance Proprietary Diester Catalyst System.
  • The team developed zeolite molecular sieve-based adsorptive process and commercialisation for 1 Octene purification for HMD.
  • The team designed an adsorbent and a process to ensure 80% propylene recovery from the polyolefin plant off-gas.

Focus Areas

Reliance will continue to focus on building a society powered by digitisation – one that can transform lives and address global issues such as climate change. The Company plans to invest in R&D in line with its growth ambitions and relevant needs of the country. It will focus on supporting emerging growth opportunities, fostering circular economy, reducing GHG emissions and encouraging adoption of sustainable practices.