Richest Asian plans to invest $76 billion in green projects

The conglomerate led by Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, has announced plans to invest $76 billion in clean energy projects, dwarfing an earlier $10 billion commitment from the world’s biggest fossil fuel billionaire.

Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by Ambani, has signed pacts with the Gujarat state government for a total investment of 5.96 trillion rupees ($81 billion), according to a filing on Thursday.

Of this, around Rs 5 trillion will be used over the next 15 years to build 100 gigawatts of renewable energy projects and a green hydrogen grid, while Rs 600 billion will go to factories building solar modules, electrolysers hydrogen, fuel cells and storage batteries, he said at the presentation.

The remaining sum will be spent on the group’s new and existing projects, including upgrading its telecommunications network for 5G services and expanding its consumer retail businesses. Reliance already ha”Started the process of exploring the land” for its renewable energy projects and has applied to the Gujarat Administration for 182,110 hectares in the arid Kutch region.

Although the investment pact is only a memorandum of understanding at this point, it outlines the scope of the green ambitions of Ambani and represents a sharp increase from the $10 billion investment over three years that it had announced in June. Ambani is in the midst of transforming his fossil fuel-powered empire toward green energy and digital technology.

stretch goal

These projects will also further the goal of Reliance to make its operations carbon neutral by 2035, an ambitious goal for a company that derived 60% of its revenue from oil refining and petrochemicals.

The announcement follows a pact by the billionaire-led conglomerate Gautam Adani with South Korean steel giant Posco to explore business opportunities in India, including the creation of an environmentally friendly steel plant in Gujarat, with a potential investment of US$5 billion. Adani has committed to investing a total of US$70 billion by 2030 across its green energy value chain.

Both the billionaires and their ability to lead by example on their commitments to green energy are crucial if the government led by Narendra Modi wants to achieve its goal of having the country have net zero carbon emissions by 2070.

Like their global peers, the Reliance and Adani groups, which made their fortunes from fossil fuels, are now aggressively expanding their clean energy operations amid mounting pressure to join the fight against climate change.