In his annual letter to shareholders as Chairman of Reliance Capital, Anil Ambani said the company prepared a plan to strengthen its footprint in the financial services industry.

Reliance Capital, which is the financial services arm of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), intends to more than double its customer base in the next 3-5 years, he said in the letter.

In joint venture with Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Nippon Life Insurance, Reliance Capital expects to benefit in its proposed banking foray. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Nippon Life Insurance, are leading financial companies in Japan.

Reliance Capital is one of the 26 entities that have submitted their applications to RBI for banking licence.

The foreign partners propose to take between 4-5 per cent stake each in the proposed new bank, subject to necessary regulatory approvals.

It may be recalled that Reliance Capital is already present in a host of non-banking financial services businesses. The firm has drawn up exciting growth plans for the next three to five years, Ambani said in the letter.

Reliance Capital plans to expand the customer base from 20 million to 50 million, widen distribution reach from 5,000 to 25,000 cities and towns and increase in the number of business partners from half a million to one million.