Aiming at putting Gujarat and India as a whole on the global solar and hydrogen energy map, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced on June 24 that the company would invest a total of Rs 75,000 crore over three years in its New Energy business.

"Suryadev (Sun God) has blessed India with almost limitless solar energy. Our overall investment in the New Energy business will be Rs 75,000 crore, including an additional Rs 15,000 crore in value chain, partnerships, future technologies, and upstream and downstream industries,

over three years," said Ambani during RIL’s 44th AGM.

This is significant, especially during these challenging times when the energy industry is playing a crucial role in helping people around the world stay safe and productive.

The COVID-induced lockdowns have clearly shown a mirror to the ravages of mankind on the environment -- how factory shutdowns cleaned rivers and skylines -- while decreased travel reduced emissions. Hence, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus on accelerating climate change continued.

"All our products will proudly proclaim 'Made in India, by India, for India and for the world', taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Ambani added.

He explained, Reliance would create a fully integrated, end-to-end renewable energy ecosystem. "Over the next three years, we will invest over Rs 60,000 crore towards these initiatives," he added.

Highlighting the plan, Ambani said that the RIL is working on developing one of the largest integrated renewable energy manufacturing facilities in the world in Gujarat.

"We have started work on developing the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex on 5,000 acres in Jamnagar, Gujarat. It would comprise of four factories for manufacturing and integrating all the critical components of the New Energy ecosystem—solar photovoltaic module, energy storage battery, electrolyser and fuel cell," said Ambani, affirming that India would play a leading role in transforming the global energy landscape.

In 2020, Ambani had announced RIL would become net carbon zero by 2035. "It is not enough to be carbon neutral; the world needs to achieve absolute reductions in emissions soon," Ambani at the AGM.

First Published:Jun 24, 2021 9:30 PM IST