These treasury stocks are carried at a cost of Rs 158 per share in the books of the Petroleum Trust whose sole beneficiary is Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings, a 100 pc subsidiary of RIL. As such, the financial impact of the deal will be reflected in the consolidated statements of the company, RIL said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.  Petroleum Trust is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created for RIL’s holding in the earlier Reliance Petroleum when the company merged the latter with itself some seven years ago. The stake of the Trust rose again when IPCL was merged with RIL.

A few little-known Reliance investment companies, such as Reliance Chemicals, Reliance Polyolefins and Reliance Universal Enterprise, also hold additional treasury stock to the tune of 5.73 per cent, taking the total treasury stock to 12.38 per cent. This helps Mukesh Ambani raise his total controlling stake above 50 per cent.