Notwithstanding the rising global crude oil prices, which are currently hovering around $135, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will start selling natural gas this year at $25.20 a barrel of crude oil equivalent.

The price implies potential savings of about Rs 85,000 crore for Indian consumers, said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL, at the 34th annual general meeting of the company here on Thursday.

Ambani also said he expected RIL’s retail business to generate over 50 lakh jobs. It has grown to nearly 700 stores, comprising 14 distinct formats, across 60 cities and towns. RIL would also focus on infrastructure development via SEZs in Haryana and Jamnagar.

Ambani told shareholders that the company would commission a new petroleum refinery in Jamnagar in the second half of this fiscal. This 580,000-barrel-a-day refinery is being built adjacent to a 660,000-barrel-a-day plant owned by the company.

RIL will also continue to consolidate its growth in the polyester business in India and overseas. “The acquisition (of assets of Hualon, Malaysia, by RIL in September 2007) has increased the polyester capacity by 25% to 2.5 million tonne per annum. Reliance is a formidable player in the polyester fibre and yarn business, with a global marketshare of 7%. The new 2.5 million tonne per year paraxylene manufacturing facility in Jamnagar will provide a platform for growth in the polyester business in India and abroad,” he said.

Meanwhile, RIL’s share price on Thursday rose 0.96% on the Bombay Stock Exchange to close at Rs 2,281.76 as compared to Rs 2,260 the previous day.

Ambani also said that RIL was investing $5.2 billion to develop the Krishna-Godavari basin, adding that piping the gas from the area, which is off the eastern coast, would cut $27 billion from India’s import bill.

Ambani also said Reliance is poised to become a leading global energy giant. The company is also considering alternative energy as a potential avenue for growth and transformation. “I will be happy to share with you details once we have a concrete value-creating plan in place,” he added.

Reliance Industries currently has a global gross reserve and contingent resource base of 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, positioning it among the top 15 upstream companies in the world. “The company is firmly on track towards an ambitious resource accretion target of 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent,” said Ambani.