The shares of Reliance Industries slumped 4.4 per cent on Tuesday, the steepest fall since June 4, 2024, when the results of the Lok Sabha election were announced, after the company disclosed that it does not expect to buy Russian crude in January.

At the NSE, the stock settled at ₹1,507.60, after tanking 5.18 per cent to ₹1,496.30 intra-day. Reliance has been an outperformer with its shares rallying 29 per cent in 2025, beating the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index’s 11 per cent gain.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the company took to X, saying that its Jamnagar refinery had not received any cargo of Russian oil in the past three weeks and was not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries this month either.

RIL, with its technologically advanced refinery capable of processing and blending wide varieties of crude, from sweet-light to heavy-sour, has been the biggest buyer of cheap Russian barrels since early 2022, when Moscow invaded Ukraine.

The company had previously guided in October that it would limit its purchases from Russia following sanctions imposed by the US Treasury on two of Moscow’s top producers, Rosneft and Lukoil. The last consignment of oil destined for its refinery was loaded on November 12, it had then informed.

Although the US sanctions forced India’s total purchase to half in January from November when sanctions came into effect, there was hope that Indian refineries, including Reliance, may still be buying from non-sanctioned Russian sources. However, US President Donald Trump’s fresh threat to put more tariffs on India if it continues with Russian oil purchases changed the equation on Monday.

RIL’s share also came under pressure after Tata-controlled fashion apparel retailer Trent reported weak numbers, a 15 per cent decline in average revenue per square foot of store space in the three months ending December from the same period of last year, indicating a tough environment for Indian
retailers.

The retail business is a key component of RIL’s overall conglomerate structure and is often seen as a driver of its stock prices. ICICI Securities had valued the retail business, headed by Isha Ambani, daughter of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, at more than $103 billion in October, about half of the company’s $226 billion market value. Weak commentary around Trent was viewed by investors as a sector concern around RIL, too.

Meanwhile, CLSA also removed Reliance from its India model portfolio.