Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on June 24, Thursday announced a Rs 75,000 crore investment in setting up four 'Giga' factories to make solar photovoltaic cells, green hydrogen batteries and fuel cells over the next three years. Addressing the company's annual shareholder meeting, he said Reliance will set up 100 GW of solar power generating capacity.
"We plan to build four Giga Factories to manufacture and integrate all critical components of the new energy ecosystem: solar photovoltaic module factory, energy storage battery factory, electrolyser factory, fuel cell factory," Ambani said.
These four factories will involve an investment of Rs 60,000 crore. "We will invest an additional Rs 15,000 crore in the value chain, partnerships and future technologies, including upstream and downstream industries. Thus, our overall investment in the new energy business will be Rs 75,000 crore in 3 years," he said.
Last year, he had announced a 15-year commitment to become net carbon zero by 2035. "The age of fossil fuels, which powered economic growth globally for nearly three centuries, cannot continue much longer," he said.
"In 2016, we launched Jio with the aim of bridging the Digital Divide in India. Now, in 2021, we are launching our new energy business with the aim of bridging the green energy divide in India and globally," he added.
During the shareholder meeting, Mukesh Ambani also announced that Reliance Industries Ltd has raised a record Rs 3.24 lakh crore in capital from stake sale in units, rights issue and asset monetisation.
Addressing shareholders, he said the company raised Rs 3,24,432 crore capital through the sale of stake in digital unit Jio Platforms and retail venture, rights issue and asset monetisation.
"RIL raised USD 44.4 billion, the largest-ever capital raise by any company in a year globally. This capital raise is a strong vote of confidence by global investors in India's growth potential," he said.
Saudi Aramco chairman and head of the Kingdom's cash-rich wealth fund PIF, Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan will join the board of Reliance Industries as an independent director in a precursor to a USD 15 billion deal.
Mukesh Ambani, who had two years back disclosed talks to sell a 20% stake in the company's oil-to-chemical (O2C) unit to Saudi Aramco, announced the appointment of Al-Rumayyan at the company's annual meeting of shareholders.
Harvard educated Al-Rumayyan, 51, will replace Yogendra P Trivedi, 92, who has expressed desire to retire, Ambani said at the company's annual shareholder meeting. With regards to the sale of 20% stake in the O2C business, he said the deal is likely to conclude this year.
"We look forward to welcoming Saudi Aramco as a strategic partner in our O2C business," he said.