Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, will turn his attention to the Indian conglomerate’s green energy pivot after putting his children in charge of other businesses, according to people familiar with the matter.
The 65-year-old will oversee the strategy, which includes building the Gigafactory and blue hydrogen facilities, assessing acquisition targets, and talking to potential investors, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is not public. Ambani last year unveiled plans to spend $75 billion on clean energy projects over the next 15 years.
Asia’s second-richest man is known for his single-minded focus on key goals: in the 1990s he lived for months in shipping containers to build what is today the world’s largest petrochemical refinery, and nearly two decades later he founded another upstart firm India’s largest. Telecom operator. Ambani has since handed over the reins of operations to his three children and turned his attention to green energy, which will see him face-to-face with the richest man in the sector, Gautam Adani,
is the spokesman for Reliance did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Reliance is seeking billions of dollars in investment in India’s energy sector and has approached potential investors including a Middle Eastern fund, two of the people said. His ambition, said one of the people, is to disrupt the sector, as he did with his mobile phone company Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Which can increase the margin.
Ambani’s dealmaking acumen will be crucial. Reliance spent about $ 50 billion to make it Reliance Jio, which became India’s No. 1 wireless carrier within some three years beginning in 2016 by offering free calls and cheap data. Then, during the few months of the pandemic lockdown in 2020, Ambani raised over $20 billion for his digital ventures from a range of investors, including Silicon Valley giants, meta Platform Inc. and Google.
Reliance, with a market value of $206 billion, has a 2035 target to be carbon net-zero. Ambani told shareholders last August that India’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy would provide an opportunity for continued “hyper-growth” for Reliance.
Ambani’s focus on clean energy comes as he spent much of the past year setting up his children in other businesses across his empire. Eldest son Akash Ambani was named chairman of Reliance Jio, twin sister Isha Ambani will oversee Reliance’s retail operations and youngest Anant Ambani will look after the energy unit.
The text of this story is published from a wire agency feed without any modification. Only the headline has been changed.
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