Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, on Wednesday, predicted that India will significantly reduce its energy imports within the next decade, aiming to become reasonably self-sufficient.
Currently, India imports around 80% of its energy needs, but Ambani’s vision for renewable energy and technological advancements could change that. Reliance is investing heavily in green energy, including solar and hydrogen production, with plans to establish giga factories and expand its renewable energy capacity.
He was speaking at the JioBlackRock event “Investing for a New Era”. The JioBlackRock is a joint venture between Jio Financial Services (Reliance Group) and BlackRock, established to provide tech-enabled mutual funds and investment products in India.
Outlining the roadmap for energy self-reliance, Ambani said, “We have a path, and God willing, with technological breakthroughs, we will be reasonably self-sufficient in energy. Investments in such energy sectors, which make us self-sufficient, are 20-30 year, time-right investments in physical infrastructure that we still need.”
He added that India has a historic opportunity to build infrastructure at scale. “We have the opportunity to build, with today’s technology, the physical infrastructure for 1.4 billion people. We’ve done a lot, but there’s a lot more to do,” Ambani said, adding that these are also long-horizon opportunities in technological infrastructure.
Highlighting execution at scale, Ambani cited the rapid expansion of roads, power capacity, renewable energy, digital infrastructure, and the nationwide 5G rollout, saying these developments have boosted confidence across industries, startups, and young Indians.”The world is taking notice of India. It is a tree laden with abundant fruit, and this growth is very sustainable over the coming decades,” he added.