By P.R. Venkat

Reliance Industries Ltd. has become the first Indian company to see its market capitalization cross $200 billion, joining the ranks of big multinationals like Coca Cola Co. and Netflix Inc.

Shares of Reliance Industries hit record highs earlier Thursday on a report by Bloomberg that the Indian conglomerate had offered to sell a stake of around $20 billion in its retail business to Amazon.com Inc.

The stock of Reliance Industries has been in demand in recent months after the company saw billions of dollars of investment in its telecommunications and technology firm Jio Platforms.

Earlier this year, companies like Facebook Inc., Vista Equity Partners, KKR & Co., and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund, poured billions of dollars into the telecommunications unit.

On Wednesday, Reliance Industries said that U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake will invest $1.02 billion into its retail company, Reliance Retail Ventures, one of the fastest-growing retail businesses in the country.

This has led to speculation that more multinational firms will be investing in the retail venture which offers consumer electronics, food and grocery, and fashion and lifestyle products.

Investor sentiment has also been boosted by the fact that the company became debt-free ahead of its target of March 31, 2021.

Reliance Industries' upside momentum is likely to continue, based on technical charts, brokerage firm Anand Rathi said in a note.

Shares of Reliance Industries are up 54% so far this year and 91% in the past 12 months. 



  Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com