Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani has unveiled the company’s plan to enter clean energy business at an estimated cost of Rs 60,000 crore. Addressing the RIL’s shareholders on Thursday during the 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) virtually, Ambani said: “In 2016, Jio bridged the digital divide and by launching a New Energy Business in 2021, the company aims to bridge the green energy divide.”
According to Ambani, the initiative has four new factories – Integrated Solar photovoltaic module factory, advanced energy storage battery factory, electrolyser factory and fuel cell factory. For this purpose, the company will set up the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex at Jam Nagar in Gujarat. Besides this Rs 60,000 crore investment, the company will invest an additional Rs 15,000 crore in the value chain, partnerships and future technologies, including upstream and downstream industries. As a result, RIL's overall investment in the new energy business will be Rs 75,000 crore in 3 years, said Ambani.
Reliance-Saudi Aramco deal likely to conclude this year
In another major development, Mukesh Ambani announced that Saudi Aramco chairman and head of the Kingdom's cash-rich wealth fund PIF Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan will join the board of Reliance Industries Ltd as an independent director in a precursor to the USD 1,500 crore deal. In August 2019, Ambani announced talks for the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world's largest oil exporter.
According to media reports, the Reliance-Saudi Aramco deal was to conclude by March 2020 but has been delayed for reasons not disclosed by either company. However, Ambani on Thursday assured that the deal is likely to conclude this year. A stake in Reliance's O2C business would give Aramco an entry into one of the world's fastest-growing fuel markets. It would also give a ready-made market for 5 lakh barrels per day of its Arabian crude and offering a potentially bigger downstream role in the future.
Reliance had in 2019 put USD 7,500 crore as the value of the O2C business after signing a non-binding letter of intent with Saudi Aramco.
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