Mukesh Ambani to now challenge Gautam Adani in…, India’s richest man decides to…

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries already has business in oil, petrochemicals, telecommunications, and retail. India’s richest businessman is not planning to enter into the solar panel manufacturing business. Till now, this sector was dominated by players like Adani, Waaree Energies, and Vikram Solar.

Reliance Industries Limited recently inaugurated its first solar panel manufacturing unit and is also planning to establish battery storage production facilities. This update was shared in an investor presentation after the company’s earnings announcement for the fiscal year 2024–25.

Earlier also in 2021, Reliance had launched a $10 billion plan for renewable energy, storage, and hydrogen to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2035. 

Mukesh Ambani VS Gautam Adani

By entering the solar PV module market, Reliance has joined the ranks of established players like the Adani Group, Tata Power Solar, Waaree Energies, and Vikram Solar. This intensifies competition within the renewable energy sector.

Reliance Industries Ltd has commissioned its first line for manufacturing of solar panels and is on track to build battery storage production facilities, the firm said in an investor presentation.

“First line of solar PV modules (has been) commissioned,” Reliance said in an investor presentation post announcing FY25 earnings on Friday.

The firm helmed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani joins the likes of Adani Group, Tatas, Waaree Energie and Vikram Solar that make solar PV modules.

The government has mandated that from June 2026, all clean energy projects must use solar PVz modules made from locally-produced cells with a view to cut reliance on Chinese imports and boost domestic manufacturing capabilities.

Domestic solar panel manufacturing will help India in achieving its broader goal of 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Reliance is building ‘giga factories’ on a 5,000-acre site at Jamnagar in Gujarat producing photovoltaic (PV) modules, batteries, hydrogen electrolyser and fuel cells. PV modules, commonly known as solar panels, are devices that convert sunlight directly into electricity using the photovoltaic effect.

The 10 gigawatt per annum capacity “is designed in such a way that we can quickly jump it up to 20 GW,” V Srikanth Venkatachari, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Reliance, said at the investor call.

Reliance, he said, is also focused on 30 GWh of battery manufacturing. The “20 GWh initial capacity (is) expandable in modular fashion”, the presentation said.

(With Inputs From PTI)

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