OREANDA-NEWS. July 26, 2011. Reliance Industries (RIL) today posted a 16.70% increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 5,661 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, on the back of higher refining margins.

Its net profit for the period April-June last year was Rs 4,851 crore, the company said in a filing. RIL, which operates the world's largest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, said it earned USD 10.3 for turning every barrel of crude oil into petroleum products or fuel as opposed to USD 7.3 per barrel gross refining margin in Q1 of FY11.

Turnover was up 37.2% to Rs 83,689 crore while exports jumped 57.5% to Rs 51,737 crore. Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said: "The growth in earnings was driven by strong refining margins and sustained performance in the petrochemicals business. Our cash flows give us the unparalleled opportunity to allocate capital to higher-margin resource plays in leading markets around the world."

"We remain committed towards investing in India and have commenced the investment program in the petrochemical business," he added. The company has cash and cash equivalents worth Rs 45,775 crore, which are invested mainly in bank deposits, mutual funds and government securities/bonds.

The government on Friday gave an unconditional nod to the country's biggest private sector company, to sell 30% interest in 21 blocks to British Petroleum. The government, however, withheld permission for another two blocks.

The two companies had on February 21 announced that BP would pay USD 7.2 billion to RIL for the deal. The deal is one of the major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the history of India.