Reliance Is Building a Solar Giga Factory in India; Can It Rival Tesla?

To further push the boundaries of India’s renewable resource manufacturing capabilities, Reliance today made a major announcement at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2021. Apart from announcing the JioPhone Next developed in partnership with Google, Reliance also announced to set up a 5,000-acre complex with four integrated Giga Factories to produce renewable energy in India.

Dubbed the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex, the facility will be located in Jamnagar, Gujarat. It will be responsible for producing solar energy and green hydrogen and aims to make India one of the biggest exporters of renewable resources in the world.

Reliance CEO and the richest person in the country Mukesh Ambani took the stage to explain the company’s three-part plan to establish its new energy ecosystem. The setting up of the four Giga Factories is the first part of the plan.

“These [Giga Factories] will manufacture and fully integrate all the critical components of the new energy ecosystem”, said Ambani during the Reliance AGM 2021.

“One, for the production of solar energy, we will build an integrated solar photovoltaic module factory. Two, for the storage of intermittent energy, we will build an advanced energy storage battery factory. Three, for the production of green hydrogen, we will build an electrolyzer factory. Four, for converting hydrogen for mobile and stationary power, we will build a fuel cell factory,” further added the Reliance CEO.

Talking about the company’s solar energy plans, the company will manufacture high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells at its Giga factory in Jamnagar. Mukesh Ambani aims to achieve the most affordable prices for its solar panels and energy storage modules,  making them accessible to the rural population of India.

Reliance is looking to produce 100 Gigawatt (GW) out of the country’s 450 GW goal for renewable energy capacity by 2030. This will come in the form of rooftop installations and decentralized access in rural areas.

To ensure the seamless establishment of the manufacturing plant, Reliance will invest around Rs. 60,000 crores in its New Energy and Materials Business in the next three years. Moreover, the company will invest an additional Rs. 15,000 crores in the value chain, partnerships, and future technologies, which takes the cumulative investment to a whopping Rs 75,000 crores.

Now, it is evident from the company’s plans that it is trying to rival Tesla, the global EV manufacturer’s solar projects. However, it is too soon to call Reliance a “rival” to Tesla. With its solar energy plans, the company is looking to replicate the success, which Tesla gained through its solar projects, in India over the coming years. So, setting up a Giga Factory to produce solar energy seems like a relevant stepping stone for Reliance to make India a significant exporter of renewable resources in the modern world.