Reliance sees greener pastures in renewable energy, eyes global partnerships

Reliance Industries Ltd wants to be the partner of choice for leading global climate technology and product companies, the telecoms-to-petrochemicals conglomerate said in its fiscal 2024 annual report released on Wednesday.

Over the next 12 months, RIL said, its focus would be to bring onstream new-energy manufacturing facilities, operate them efficiently and start developing renewable energy (RE) generation projects.

RIL's new-energy division will commission its first module and cell manufacturing train in the ongoing fiscal. Solar panels manufactured at its Jamnagar facility have obtained BIS certification. "Work on RE development has commenced and Reliance has been allotted land in Gujarat. We aim to become the largest RE developer in India," RIL said in the report.


"Simultaneously, we would develop a supply chain locally for self-sufficiency and reduce the reliance on imports," the company said, adding that a 50 MWh (megawatt hour) per year capacity pilot line has been set up for manufacturing lithium-ion cells. It can be scaled up for commercial-scale production.

RIL is setting up a mega project, the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex spanning 5,000 acres in Jamnagar, to manufacture components for the RE sector. Phased commencement of operations at the Solar PV Giga Factory is expected by the end of 2024.

"RIL made notable progress in cost-competitive green hydrogen production by reducing the cost of renewable power generation and the installed cost of electrolysers for giga-scale deployment," it said.

Addressing shareholders, chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said: "Reliance has consolidated its balance sheet after the previous round of capex and is ready for the next level of growth."

"Our constant endeavour to find solutions for India and Indians has helped us spot multiple growth opportunities that have expanded our business portfolio."

The company said it is exploring various carbon capture utilisation and sequestration pathways, including synthetic fuels, construction materials, algae cultivation and other innovative solutions.

Referring to the digital services arm Jio, Ambani said it will "continue to play a stellar role in building the nation's digital infra and capabilities". RIL's MJ Field in the KG-D6 block accounts for 30% of India's domestic gas production, he added.