Reliance to invest US$9 bn to expand oil to chemicals business
Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, says it will invest around US$9.38 billion over 5 years to expand its oil to chemical business.
“We are committed to maximise oil to chemicals integration and convert our advantageous feedstock streams to high-value chemicals and green materials,” Chairman Mukesh D Ambani Ambani said at a recent 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 US$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 carbon zero company by 2035, aiding the national goal of net zero by 2070 set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
