Reliance to consider doubling its investment in clean energy hardware manufacturing

Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani addresses shareholders at the annual general meeting. Reliance plans a 20 gigatonne solar module capacity by 2026. 

As Chairman Mukesh Ambani pushes his conglomerate to become a major force in India’s green power expansion, Reliance Industries Ltd. will consider doubling its investment in clean energy hardware manufacturing once current plans are met.

Last year, Reliance announced a 750 billion rupee ($9.4 billion) plan to build four factories in Jamnagar, home to its petroleum refining complex, to manufacture solar panels, electrolyzers, fuel cells, and batteries. “Once proven at scale, we are willing to double our investment to scale up our manufacturing ecosystem,” Ambani said at the company’s annual general meeting on Monday.

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India, the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is attempting to decarbonize its economy and reduce its reliance on fossil fuel imports, thereby encouraging investments in clean energy. The country has rolled out a slew of incentives to entice investment, and the plans have garnered support from local billionaires such as Ambani and his rival Gautam Adani, as well as global energy behemoths such as TotalEnergies SE.

Ambani stated that Reliance’s own large energy requirements will aid in the company’s clean energy projects. He added that the facilities will help India become a net energy exporter and a credible alternative to China, which was India’s largest supplier of solar modules until recently.

According to Ambani, Reliance’s solar facility will be a fully integrated manufacturing unit, from quartz to metallurgical silicon and polysilicon to modules. On Tuesday, Reliance said its shareholders approved expanding the company’s charter to include businesses such as quartz and silica mining, battery and fuel cell-driven mobility solutions, and power electronics and semiconductors.