(Bloomberg) -- Reliance Industries Ltd. will consider doubling its investment in clean energy hardware manufacturing once current plans are achieved, as Chairman Mukesh Ambani pushes his conglomerate to become a major force in India’s green power expansion.

Reliance last year unveiled a 750 billion-rupee ($9.4 billion) plan to build four factories at Jamnagar, home to its petroleum refining complex, to make solar panels, electrolyzers, fuel cells and batteries. “Once proven at scale, we are prepared to double the investment to scale up our manufacturing ecosystem,” Ambani told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting Monday.      

India, the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is seeking to decarbonize its economy and reduce imports of fossil fuels, spurring investments in clean energy. The country, which plans to turn carbon neutral by 2070, has rolled out a raft of incentives to draw investments and the plans have won support from local billionaires such as Ambani and his rival Gautam Adani as well as global energy giants like TotalEnergies SE. 

Ambani said Reliance’s own large energy requirements will help accelerate the company’s clean power projects. He added that the facilities will help India become a net exporter of energy and emerge as a credible alternative to China, which until a few months back was India’s largest supplier of solar modules.   

Reliance’s solar facility will be a fully integrated manufacturing unit, from quartz to metallurgical silicon and polysilicon to modules, Ambani said. Reliance on Tuesday said its shareholders have consented to expanding the company’s charter to include businesses including quartz and silica mining, battery and fuel cells-driven mobility solutions as well as power electronics and semiconductors.

“The company’s strategy shows it’s gearing up to tap into decarbonization opportunities” across industries, said Gagan Sidhu, director at the Centre for Energy Finance at New Delhi-based think tank CEEW. “India’s domestic market is going to require an average $200 billion a year in investment through 2070 for the country to reach net zero and Reliance itself has a significant internal requirement for clean energy.”  

Here’s a snapshot of clean energy announcements Ambani made:

  • Reliance’s 10-gigawatts/year solar cell and module making capacity to start production in 2024; to double annual capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2026
  • Reliance to build a power-electronics factory
  • The company, a large user of grey hydrogen, plans to start transitioning to green hydrogen by 2025
    • The company is in “advanced” talks with global electrolyzer technology companies for manufacturing
  • Plans to set up 20 gigawatts of solar generation capacity by 2025, which will all be used for its internal needs, including for making green hydrogen
  • Aims to start production of battery packs by 2023 and aims to have 5 gigawatt hour/year cells-to pack facility by 2024 and 50 gigawatt hour plant by 2027

While both Ambani and Adani have made aggressive bets on clean energy, they continue to invest in their fossil fuel businesses and profit from hem. 

While discussing progress on his clean energy projects, Ambani said Reliance’s natural gas production from a domestic field is set to rise and announced more than $9 billion of investment over five years in the oil-to-chemicals value chain.

(Updates with new business areas, analyst comment in fifth and sixth paragraphs.)

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