Reliance unveils $9.4b plan to boost business

Has set ambitious target to become net zero carbon company by 2035

NEW DELHI:

Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, will invest 750 billion Indian rupees ($9.38 billion) over five years to expand its oil-to-chemical business, its Chairman Mukesh D Ambani said.

“We are committed to maximising oil-to-chemicals integration and convert our advantageous feedstock streams to high-value chemicals and green materials,” Ambani said at an annual shareholders’ meeting.

Reliance’s two refineries at Jamnagar in western India have the capacity to process about 1.4 million barrels per day of crude.

Refiners in India and elsewhere are boosting petrochemicals output to meet rising demand and help hedge against lower margins for conventional fuels as consumption of gasoil and gasoline is set to ease with a global push for clean energy.

Reliance last year announced a plan to invest over $10 billion to build four giga factories at Jamnagar to produce solar cells and modules, energy storage batteries, fuel cells and green hydrogen.

The group has set an ambitious target to become a net zero carbon company by 2035, aiding the national goal of net zero by 2070 set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Globally, oil and gas companies have set varying targets for net zero emissions.

Ambani on Monday announced a plan to set up a fifth giga factory for power electronics.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2022.

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