Reliance's utility unit posts 14% rise in profit

Mumbai: Reliance Infrastructure, India's third-largest utility, said net income in the first quarter rose 14 per cent.

Profit in the three months ended June 30 increased to Rs2.53 billion ($60 million) from Rs2.22 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Saturday.

Net sales rose 36 per cent to Rs22 billion.

Billionaire chairman Anil Ambani changed the company's name from Reliance Energy in May to reflect the wider scope of its business, including building roads and airports, as India spends $500 billion to improve infrastructure by 2012.

Future plans

Reliance Infrastructure plans to invest $7 billion in the next three years to expand its engineering and construction business in India and acquire assets overseas, director Lalit Jalan said last month.

The company had orders worth Rs210.4 billion, Reliance Infrastructure said.