Key takeaways from Reliance Industries Annual Report for 2015-16

It is not everyone's favourite pastime to open a 400+pg annual report, but I could not resist the urge to read the RIL annual report once it was released. Here goes my takeaways(in no particular order). Those interested can download it from http://www.ril.com/getattachment/56a9a0bd-d1e1-4735-9e8f-ece1e7e71e87/AnnualReport_2015-16.aspx

• As versus prescribed CSR spend of ~56 crores, they have spent ~67 crores. Interestingly, nearly 90% of this is via Reliance Foundation and not directly.
• They have a CFO and a Joint CFO, who earn Rs 14crs and 11crs respectively. The division of work between them is not too clear
• Pg 13 and Pg 53 highlight Reliance's products in everyday life, and the product cycle chemistry. This is a must read for everyone
• Mukesh Ambani has accepted remuneration of ~40% of his approved limit, in an effort to set a personal example for moderation in managerial remuneration. 
• Jio's strategy seems similar to Wechat, in my view, considering the wish to integrate payments, communication and ecommerce. Would be interesting if they succeed.
• On reading the ambitious plan for Jio which would account for ~20% of group capital employed, I decided to hunt for reviews of the pilot launch. This link(http://techpp.com/2016/05/26/reliance-jio-apps/) is not very complimentary of the user interface, and therefore apps like Magzter, Netflix could rest easy for some time
• Under Prabir Jha, Reliance had switched to employee friendly initiatives like a 5 day week, RALP etc. But now, there is hardly any mention of HR in the report. While Reliance has a good employee brand (maybe not among IIM graduates but overall), the report could have focused more on building this
• The company is VERY science  and technology focused  as evident from the space devoted to the discussion. 
• Reliance achieved a 7yr high GRM/barrel of $10.8, which it attributes to  The ability to operate at high utilisation levels and switch product slate to suit market conditions enabled RIL to capture margin optimisation opportunities in the market.
• Under an innovation program GenNexHub, the company encourages startup via incubatio as follows: During the four-month-long programme, GenNext Hub conducts workshops and mentoring sessions for start-ups in the areas of customer development, market traction, operations, product roadmap, fund raising and pitching. It also provides expertise in IP, legal, financial compliance, HR and specific sectorial expertise. GenNext Hub is uniquely positioned as a global programme that helps start-ups think big and grow fast. This seems inspired by Rocket Internet, since the areas are not too relevant to Reliance. 
• The financials were not too insightful but that is only to be expected from a company audited by the Big4.