Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- RelianceIndustries Ltd., India's biggest company, will expand overseas to build a oil, gas and chemicals global business.

Reliance has investments that will fetch $28 billion at current prices, giving the company the finances to pursue growth options of ``significant size and scale,'' Chairman Mukesh Ambani told shareholders in Mumbai today. Reliance plans to build chemicals businesses in Egypt and Russia, and expects to make new hydrocarbon discoveries, he said.

Growth overseas will allow Ambani to offset the impact of local price controls on oil and gas and violent protests from street vendors and shopkeepers, forcing Reliance to shut some of its stores selling products ranging from fruits and vegetables to electronic goods.

``He is trying to get into a market where are he is not bound by pricing controls,'' said Jon Thorn, who manages $250 million in equity in India Capital Fund in Hong Kong. ``He will use his knowledge and experience of running businesses efficiently in managing operations overseas.''

Ambani in the previous two annual shareholder meetings announced major growth plans - a gas find and refinery expansion in 2005 and the retail plan in 2006, spurring expectation of similar announcements this year.

Shares Fall

Reliance's stock fell 77.45 rupees, or 3 percent, to 2,552.2 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange at 3:12 p.m. local time. The stock rose as much as 3.6 percent to 2,724 rupees before the shareholders meeting began.

Protests against its retail initiative will stop once the benefits to consumers and farmers are understood, Ambani said. The company plans to start wholesale stores on a ``pilot basis'' that will sell wares to small traders and shopkeepers.

Thousands of small shop owners, street vendors and workers protested in Mumbai on Oct. 11 against the expansion of Reliance and the entry of international retailers such as Wal- Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, and Germany's Metro AG.

Ambani said the company's retail plans wouldn't jeopardize the livelihoods of small shop owners.

In the oil and gas business, Reliance will use its strength in the domestic market to drive the expansion and create ``unprecedented'' value for shareholders, Ambani said.

New Refinery

Reliance will complete the world's largest refinery ahead of schedule next year, Ambani said, and start piping 80 million cubic meters of gas a day from its largest field, two times the country's output of the fuel. The company's stock has doubled this year as investors backed its expansion plans.

India, Asia's third-largest oil consumer, faces a 46 percent shortage of natural gas supplies as demand rises and output from aging fields declines, Dinsha Patel, junior minister for oil and gas, said Aug. 16.

The country's supply of the fuel used in making fertilizers and firing generators was 96 million cubic meters a day in the year ended March 31, against demand of 179.17 million cubic meters, Patel said. The government plans to narrow the gap by boosting local output and increasing imports of liquefied natural gas, he said.

Reliance on Nov. 1 said its gas field off the country's east coast will produce twice the amount previously estimated.

To contact the reporters on this story: Manash Goswami in New Delhi at mgoswami@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 12, 2007 06:05 EDT