Reliance Industries has entered an agreement with the Gujarat government to invest ₹5.95 lakh crore in green energy projects as well as other existing and new ventures across the state on Thursday. The Mukesh Ambani-led company will make the investments under three heads – renewable energy and green hydrogen ecosystem, integrated renewable energy manufacturing, and bolstering its retail, telecom and other businesses in Gujarat.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) said in a statement on Thursday that the proposed investment will create 10 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities in Gujarat. The conglomerate has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government as part of Investment Promotion Activity for Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2022 for this.
Under the first head, RIL will invest ₹5 lakh crore in Gujarat over the span of 10 to 15 years to help the state achieve net zero emissions and become carbon free. These funds will be utilized to set up 100 gigawatts (GW) renewable energy power plant and green hydrogen ecosystem development.
RIL said it will develop an ecosystem for assisting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and encourage entrepreneurs to embrace new technologies and innovations leading to captive use of renewable energy and green hydrogen.
The oil-to-retail conglomerate has started the process of scouting land for 100 GW renewable energy power project in Kutch, Banaskantha and Dholera, in consultation with the Gujarat government. The company has also raised a request for 4.5 lakh acres of land in Kutch.
RIL will also invest another ₹60,000 crore in setting up new energy manufacturing-integrated renewable manufacturing systems. This will include manufacturing of solar photovoltaic module components like polysilicon, wafer, cell and module, along with electrolysers, energy-storage batteries and fuel cells.
The company will invest Rs 25,000 crore more in its existing projects and new ventures in the state over the next three to five years. RIL has also proposed to invest ₹7,500 crore over this same period for upgrading Jio’s network to 5G technology, and another ₹3,000 crore over five years in Reliance Retail.
Reliance has shown enthusiasm towards investing in clean and green energy with the rise in demand. During RIL’s 44th annual general meeting in June last year, its chairman Mukesh Ambani had said that the company will spend ₹75,000 crore on its new energy business over the course of three years.
This capital will be used to build a green energy giga complex in Jamnagar, spread over 5,000 acres and in the same city where Reliance currently runs the world’s largest petroleum refinery. The complex will house four giga factories engaged in making solar photovoltaic modules, energy storage batteries, electrolysers and fuel cells.
As part of its new energy ventures, Reliance has set a target of establishing 100 GW solar energy capacity by 2030.
Ambani had also talked about a dedicated renewable energy project management and construction division, and a dedicated renewable energy project finance division. While the former is meant to provide gigawatt scale end-to-end solutions for large renewable plants across the world, the latter would provide finance solutions to the stakeholders in Reliance’s renewable energy ecosystem by enabling a platform to source long-term global capital.