Every quarter, headlines scream the same thing
“Reliance Jio reports loss.”
“Adani Green’s debt balloons.”
And yet, somehow, their market values keep climbing.
Their CEOs announce new billion-rupee projects as if the red ink on their profit-and-loss statements doesn’t matter.
Because it doesn’t.
At least, not in the way you think.
For most companies, a loss is a warning sign.
For Ambani and Adani, it’s part of the plan.
The Art of Losing Money
Reliance didn’t become India’s largest company by chasing quarterly profits.
Back in 2016, Mukesh Ambani launched Jio and gave away mobile data and calls for free.
It cost the company over ₹25,000 crore in the first year alone.
Any regular business would have collapsed.
Reliance doubled down.
Why?
Because Jio wasn’t built to make money in 2016—it was built to own the market by 2020.
Ambani’s logic was simple: burn cash now, kill competition, and then control pricing for years.
It worked.
Within three years, Jio became India’s largest telecom operator with 440 million users.
The same strategy plays out in Adani’s empire—invest billions upfront, bear years of low margins, and wait until the infrastructure becomes unavoidable.
The Cross-Subsidy Machine
Here’s the secret ingredient both use: cross-subsidisation.
It’s when one arm of the business makes profits that quietly finance another arm’s losses.
Reliance does it like clockwork.
| Reliance Arm | FY25 Revenue (₹ Cr) | Profit (₹ Cr) | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 3,10,000 | 18,000 | Cash cow |
| Jio Platforms | 1,40,000 | 4,900 | Growth engine |
| Oil & Gas | 5,50,000 | 60,000 | Legacy profit base |
| New Energy | 25,000 | -2,500 | Future bet |
Those fat oil and retail margins? They quietly paid for Jio’s telecom war and the new green-energy dreams.
Adani follows the same script—his ports and power plants are the steady cash flows that fund newer bets like solar, airports, and logistics.
| Adani Arm | FY25 Revenue (₹ Cr) | Profit (₹ Cr) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adani Ports | 28,000 | 7,200 | Cash generator |
| Adani Power | 42,000 | 6,000 | Stable profits |
| Adani Green | 13,000 | -1,100 | Loss-making |
| Adani Airports & Infra | 15,000 | -800 | Long-term bet |
One pocket loses, another gains—but the empire as a whole stays in profit.
When “Losses” Are Investments
Both Ambani and Adani think in decades, not quarters.
When Reliance builds a 5G tower or Adani constructs a port, they’re not just creating assets—they’re buying permanence.
It’s expensive in the short term but unshakable later.
Once you control the pipes—data, ports, power—competition can’t undercut you.
Every rupee “lost” now becomes a toll you collect later.
That’s why their stock prices stay strong even when profit dips.
Investors aren’t buying earnings they’re buying inevitability.
The Reliance Playbook: Diversify, Cross-Feed, Dominate
Reliance isn’t one company it’s a network of ecosystems.
Each business feeds another:
- Jio makes cheap internet → fuels online retail → boosts Reliance Retail sales.
- Retail drives payment volume → helps Jio Financial grow.
- Jio users watch content → feeds Reliance’s media arms.
The money keeps looping inside the ecosystem.
External profits are optional.
That’s why Jio could offer near-free data for years.
Reliance Retail’s profits and oil refining cash flows quietly kept the telecom dream alive.
By FY25, the group’s consolidated revenue stood at ₹10.3 lakh crore, with profits around ₹80,000 crore—more than the GDP of some countries.
The Adani Playbook: Control the Supply Chain
Where Reliance builds ecosystems, Adani builds supply chains.
He doesn’t just run one business—he owns every link between raw material and end consumer.
- Adani Power buys coal from Adani Enterprises.
- The coal arrives at Adani Ports.
- Adani Transmission carries the electricity.
- Adani Green offsets it with renewable projects.
Each transaction feeds another group company.
Loss in one becomes revenue in another.
The result: Adani Group’s total revenue in FY25 touched ₹2.9 lakh crore, with a consolidated profit of ₹23,500 crore, despite individual subsidiaries showing losses.
The Illusion of the Balance Sheet
Here’s how it looks from the outside:
Jio loses ₹2,000 crore → investors panic.
Inside Reliance, Retail makes ₹18,000 crore → problem solved.
For Ambani, the group’s consolidated statement is the real scoreboard.
As long as the sum total looks good, individual numbers don’t matter.
Same for Adani—Adani Green’s ₹1,100-crore loss barely moves the needle when Ports and Power are minting cash.
This approach confuses analysts but comforts investors because the empire always wins in aggregate.
The Power of Cheap Capital
When you’re Ambani or Adani, money itself costs less.
Both can raise global debt at interest rates as low as 5–6%, thanks to credibility, government ties, and predictable revenue flows.
Smaller rivals borrow at 12–14%.
That’s a structural moat.
They can afford to take longer bets and survive downturns without panic.
Reliance’s debt-to-equity ratio is around 0.7; Adani’s is 1.6—high but sustainable given their asset-heavy nature.
As long as their cash cows keep producing, lenders keep lending.
Why “Losses” Don’t Scare Investors
Because investors understand what’s really happening:
- Cross-subsidy: Profits elsewhere absorb short-term losses.
- Network dominance: Once scale is achieved, profits explode.
- Government alignment: Both are aligned with India’s long-term infrastructure push.
A Reliance or Adani “loss” isn’t a red flag it’s a down payment on monopoly.
How It All Affects You
Think you’re not involved? You are.
- Every Jio recharge funds the next telecom tower.
- Every Ajio purchase or petrol refill supports new energy projects.
- Every time you park at an Adani Airport or pay your electricity bill, part of that money finances solar farms and ports.
Their ecosystems quietly tax everyday life.
You’re both the customer and the financier.
The Endgame—Control the Market, Set the Price
Once competitors are gone, losses turn into leverage.
- In 2016, Jio’s free data drove Airtel and Vodafone to losses.
By 2025, average mobile tariffs doubled from ₹125/month to ₹250/month. - Adani’s airport acquisitions led to 18–25% fee hikes in parking and services.
It’s the same pattern: lose money to own the market, then adjust prices upward when you’re the only game left.
The Political and Policy Moat
Telecom, energy, infrastructure are all sectors the government can’t let fail.
That’s another layer of safety.
- Reliance is central to India’s 5G rollout and green-energy goals.
- Adani anchors critical logistics, ports, and power supply.
When your business aligns with national priorities, failure isn’t just bad for you it’s bad for the country.
That’s why they keep expanding even after controversies or global scrutiny.
The 2025 Snapshot: Empire by Numbers
| Metric | Reliance Group | Adani Group |
|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | ₹10.3 lakh crore | ₹2.9 lakh crore |
| Net Profit | ₹80,000 crore | ₹23,500 crore |
| Market Cap | ₹21 lakh crore | ₹17 lakh crore |
| Employees | 3.4 lakh+ | 1.3 lakh+ |
| Subsidiaries | 350+ | 230+ |
They are no longer just companies—they’re parallel economies.
The Fine Line Between Strategy and Risk
Of course, this strategy isn’t foolproof.
Too much debt or regulatory pushback could tip the balance.
If global interest rates rise or consumer demand softens, the cross-subsidy model strains.
Adani’s 2023 stock-crash scare after the Hindenburg report showed how fragile perception can be.
But both groups learned fast—diversifying funding, improving disclosures, and bringing in global investors like Qatar Investment Authority, BlackRock, and GIC.
They’ve turned scrutiny into stability.
Why Everyone Else Can’t Copy It
Because scale isn’t just money—it’s momentum.
Ambani can lose ₹10,000 crore and still be fine because Retail and Oil keep spinning profits.
Adani can absorb losses in Green Energy because Ports and Power stay steady.
A startup or mid-tier company can’t survive a single bad quarter like that.
That’s why this playbook is reserved for empires.
The Bottom Line
Ambani and Adani don’t play for profits they play for permanence.
They can lose money for years because they own the system that eventually collects it back.
What looks like “loss” to you is an investment to them.
They lose in one ledger, win in another, and walk away owning the market.
Because when you build the roads, run the ports, power the homes, and connect the phones—
you don’t chase profits. You define them.
Quick Data Recap
| Company | Reported Loss | Funded By | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jio Platforms | ₹2,000 crore (initial years) | Retail + Oil profits | Market capture |
| Adani Green | ₹1,100 crore | Ports & Power | Renewable expansion |
| Reliance New Energy | ₹3,000 crore | Legacy oil cash flows | Diversification |
| Adani Airports | ₹800 crore | Ports + Power profits | Long-term concession returns |