India's Reliance to invest $10bn in renewable energy

India, Asia's third-largest economy, struggles to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. To resolve this issue, Indian’s corporate giant Reliance Industries unveiled plans to invest 10 billion dollars in renewable energy over the next three years.

In a virtual address to shareholders, Reliance chairman and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani said the new business aims to "bridge the green energy divide in India and globally".

The conglomerate's multi-billion-dollar fortune is powered by oil and petrochemicals businesses, but Reliance has aggressively diversified into areas including telecoms and retail in recent years.

As part of its push towards renewable energy, Ambani said the company had begun work on a 5,000-acre manufacturing facility in India's western state of Gujarat.

The project will produce solar energy and green hydrogen that "will put Gujarat and India on the world's solar and hydrogen map", Ambani said.

"I envision a future when our country will be transformed from a large importer of fossil energy to a large exporter of clean solar energy solutions," the billionaire added.

Reliance aims to produce 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2030, nearly a quarter of the 450-gigawatt target set by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining complex in Gujarat, has a market capitalisation of more than $187 billion.

The company's shares closed down 2.6 percent in Mumbai following Ambani's announcements.

Source: AFP

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