MUMBAI - India's Reliance Industries is aiming to raise the level of its profits from consumer-facing businesses such as retail and telecoms to that of its core energy operations, the company said in its annual report on Thursday.

Reliance, which launched telecoms venture Jio in late 2016, will continue to evaluate and deploy wire line and wireless technologies for business solutions to consumers and enterprises, Chairman Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man, said in a letter to shareholders.

Reliance is set to become one of the largest non-conventional gas producers in India through the production of coalbed methane, Ambani said.

The company, however, sounded a note of caution about its U.S. shale gas business, saying the business environment was challenging.

(Reporting by Promit Mukherhjee and Sankalp Phartiyal; editing by Jason Neely) ((sankalp.phartiyal@thomsonreuters.com; +91-22-61807186; Reuters Messaging: sankalp.phartiyal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))