Reliance denies having farming plans, seeks protection from 'vandalism'

New Delhi: At the face of stiff opposition from protesting farmers in Delhi, especially on the perception that the new farm laws will mainly benefit corporates symbolised by Reliance, India's top conglomerate Reliance Industries on Monday said it that it is not into the business buying food grains from farmers directly or of contract farming. directly from farmers nor is in the business of contract farming.

It has also been alleged that as part of their protests, the farmers have been disconnecting the mobile towers of Jio, the telecom subsidiary of Reliance and causing them other damage.

In this context, Reliance has also said that Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking "the urgent intervention of government authorities to bring a complete stop to the illegal acts of vandalism (of telecom towers) by miscreants."

Reliance said it "has nothing whatsoever to do with the three farm laws currently debated in the country, and in no way benefits from them." "As such, the sole nefarious purpose of linking the name of Reliance to these laws is to harm our businesses and damage our reputation," it said.

The company said it does not do "corporate or contract farming" and has not bought "any agricultural land, directly or indirectly, in Punjab/Haryana or anywhere else in India, for the purpose of "corporate" or "contract" farming." Its retail unit which sells food grains and staples, fruits and vegetables and items of daily use through its stores, "does not purchase any food grains directly from farmers," the statement said.

"It has never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain unfair advantage over farmers or sought that its suppliers buy from farmers at less than remunerative prices, nor will it ever do so," it added.

Reliance had earlier also responded to such 'vandalism' saying that its rival operators were involved in instigating protesters in an attempt to slice away a part of the market, which currently is dominated by Reliance.

Reliance's clarification in the public domain, together with the legal move are seen as attempts to allay the farmers' fears as much as to thwart physical attacks on its network equipment.

(Based on PTI feed with minor edits)