Mumbai: Reliance Industries has signed an MoU with the Government of Gujarat for investment of Rs 5.95 lakh crore ($81 billion) in green energy and other projects in the state. This is far higher than the Rs 75,000-crore ($10 billion) investment the company had announced in June last year in the new energy business.
In the latest commitment, about Rs 5 lakh crore would be used over the next 15 years to build 100 gigawatts of renewable power projects and a green hydrogen network while Rs 60,000 crore will be for factories making solar modules, hydrogen electrolyzers, fuel cells and storage batteries, a regulatory filing by the company said.
The remaining sum is to be spent in the group's new and existing projects, including the upgrade of its telecom network for 5G services and expansion of its consumer retail businesses. Reliance has already "started the process of scouting land" for its renewable energy power projects and has requested the Gujarat administration for 450,000 acres (182,110 hectares) in the arid Kutch region.
Though the investment pact is just a memorandum of understanding right now, it outlines the scope of chairman Mukesh Ambani's green ambitions. These projects will boost Reliance's target to make its operations carbon neutral by 2035— an ambitious target for a company that derived 60 per cent of its revenue from oil refining and petrochemicals.
The announcement follows Gautam Adani-led conglomerate's pact with South Korean steel giant Posco to explore business opportunities in the country, including setting up a green steel mill in Gujarat, with a potential investment of $5 billion. Adani has committed to invest a total of $70 billion by 2030 across its green energy value chain.
