Reliance Industrial Group has signed a purchase order for nearly 5GW of photovoltaic cell production equipment with Myway.
Text: Ne-Salon New Energy Gathering Group
Mukesh Ambani, chairman, managing director and head of India's Reliance Industries Group, is a frequent visitor on the Asia's rich list, and the Reliance Industries Group at the helm is a well-known new energy giant in India and even the world. As one of the richest people, Mukesh Ambani owns a $60 million private Airbus 319 aircraft and more than 165 luxury cars. A die-hard cricket fan, he also spent $100 million in Mumbai in 2008 on Mumbai's local "Indian" cricket team. Moreover, regardless of whether the Congress Party or the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power, Reliance Industries Group has maintained inextricably linked ties with **.
In the process of inheritance and innovation, Mukesh Ambani has achieved an epic and wonderful legend for himself and Reliance Industries.
He has signed a purchase order for nearly 5GW photovoltaic cell production equipment with Myway Co., Ltd
On April 18, 2022, there were obvious signs of activity in the photovoltaic sector, and the share price of the domestic heterojunction (HJT) battery equipment leader Maiwei shares soared by 1136, which has driven the development of the entire photovoltaic sector. In addition to Myway, other constituent stocks in the sector also saw significant gains, showing investors' confidence in the PV industry.
At that time, the main reason for the turmoil in the photovoltaic sector was that India's Reliance Industries Group signed a huge purchase agreement with Singapore Myway, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Myway, to purchase 8 complete lines of solar heterojunction cell (HJT) production equipment from Myway, with a production capacity of 600MW, totaling 48gw。According to the announcement, the total amount of this purchase exceeded 50 of the operating income of Myway in 2021 and did not reach 100. According to industry veterans' estimates, according to the market, the amount of this contract is about 1.9 billion yuan. And the driving force behind this huge order is Mukesh Ambani. This is also an important part of its layout in the field of new energy.
This year, Mukesh Ambani also said that the company aims to increase the efficiency of HJT modules from 23% to 26% by 2026, and further increase it to 28% through innovative technologies such as perovskite tandem cells, and is committed to extending the life of photovoltaic modules from 25 to 50 years. In addition, Reliance Industries' 10GW solar PV cell and module plant in Jamnagar will be commissioned in 2024 and expanded in phases by 2026 to bring annual production capacity to 20GW. The Group will also invest in the manufacturing of glass and polyolefin encapsulant (PoE) films to provide the best protection for module manufacturing plants.
Recalling the background of the cooperation between Reliance Industrial Group and Myway, in this 4Prior to the order for 8GW solar heterojunction cell production equipment, in November 2021, Myway and REC also signed an order for 400MW of HJT heterojunction cell production equipment, which is alsoChina's HJT battery line equipment went overseas for the first time
In fact, as early as June 2021, Mukesh Ambani publicly announced that he planned to make the new energy business an important business development direction of the company. In June 2021, he revealed that the company plans to invest more than $10 billion over three years in the new energy business unit, which will build solar modules, battery storage, electrolyzers and fuel cell factories, among others. At the time, he also said the company planned to invest $8.1 billion to focus on four giant plants for solar, energy storage, electrolyzers and fuel cells, including a large photovoltaic module factory, a state-of-the-art energy storage battery factory, an electrolyzer plant to produce green hydrogen and a fuel cell plant to convert hydrogen into power. At this time, the construction of the company's solar gigafactory in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, had begun.
In September 2021, Mukesh Ambani also announced that Reliance Industries Group will invest 750 billion rupees (about 9.3 billion US dollars) into the green energy sector, planning to invest in both production and cooperation in the field of solar energy and hydrogen fuel economy to achieve its plan to become a zero-carbon enterprise by 2035. The investment will be made through two companies, Reliance New Energy Solar and Reliance New Solar Energy. Mukesh Ambani's youngest son, Anant Ambani, has also joined the boards of Reliance New Energy Solar and Reliance New Solar Energy, and for solar, they also plan to commission at least 100GW of solar power by 2030. Its 100GW solar plant target is primarily focused on distributed rooftop PV and powering rural India.
In October 2021, Reliance Industries Group announced that it was 7The US$7.1 billion ** acquisition of Norwegian solar panel manufacturer REC Solar Holdings from China's Bluestar Group has officially entered the PV world. REC Solar Holdings is one of the world's first large-scale manufacturers of HJT cells, headquartered in Norway and headquartered in Singapore. In the same month, Reliance Industries also announced that it would acquire a 40% stake in Sterling & Wilson Solar Ltd, a solar energy company owned by Indian billionaire Pallonji Mistry, valued at 3$7.2 billion. Sterling & Wilson Solar Ltd's main business includes photovoltaic cells, modules, inverters, and energy storage project development.
In early 2022, when announcing a new round of investment plans, Reliance Industries said it would continue to increase investment in renewable energy, including the construction of power plants, solar panels and electrolyzers. The company's announced $75 billion investment in clean energy was the largest investment in the sector in India's history at the time.
In addition, Reliance Industries acquired 100% of the assets of Lithium Werks, a cobalt-free lithium-ion phosphate battery company, for $61 million in March 2022, and previously acquired Faradion, a sodium-ion battery technology company, for £100 million, and invested $50 million in Ambri to consolidate large-scale manufacturing and the growing ESS and EV markets** chain. Ambri has patented technology for long-term energy storage systems, providing long-term energy storage solutions based on liquid metal technology. The energy storage system can work reliably in a range of climatic conditions and requires less maintenance. The investment has also been analysed by the industry as an investment in energy storage technology that is suitable for India's climate.
It is also worth noting that Mukesh Ambani revealed that Reliance Industries Group was already exploring new advanced electrochemical technologies that could be used for large-scale gate batteries in 2021. He has also vowed to reduce the cost of producing green hydrogen to US$1 per kilogram by 2030. In August 2023, Mukesh Ambani claimed that over the next five years, Reliance Industries would be transformed into a digital and green energy giant.
The saga of Reliance Industries Group
New energy is a new and important development direction of Reliance Industrial Group in recent years. In addition to new energy, the group also has excellent performance in many other aspects. The founder of Reliance Industries Group was Mukesh Ambani's father, Drubhai Ambani.
In 1958,Drubhai Ambani founded the Reliance Commodity Export Company in India, which mainly exports nylon yarn, rayon, cashew nuts and other goods. In 1979,The company has annual sales of 1$900 million. Since then, Fidelity has successively entered the chemical fiber industry, petrochemical, electric power, communications, infrastructure and other industries. Late 1980s,After monopolizing the production of chemical fiber in India, Reliance Group began to invest in the field of petrochemical raw materials and established a large-scale petrochemical complex, which refined 6 million tons of oil annually after completion, accounting for a quarter of India's refining capacity and ranking among the world's largest petrochemical companies. ThisIt really laid the foundation for the rise of Reliance Group
In 1992, Reliance was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first Indian company to enter the international capital market. In 2002, Reliance Group acquired a controlling stake in the Indian Petrochemical Company. July 2002At the time of Drubai's death, the Reliance Group wasIndia's largest private companyIt has made remarkable achievements in the fields of power, oil exploration, finance, biotechnology and telecommunications, with total assets of US$16.8 billion, equivalent to 3.0% of India's GDP5%, 1 in 4 people in all India shareholders bought the group's **.
With more than 40 years of strategic planning, Druby has built Reliance, a first-class company that started from $500, into a Fortune 500 company with an annual revenue of more than 10 billion US dollars. This achievement is the result of luck and hard work, and it is also closely related to the fact that Reliance Group has stepped on the wave of privatization of Indian state-owned enterprises and established a huge network of relationships in this way. In the early days of Drubai's business, he took advantage of this wave and established close relationships with many powerful people, so that Reliance Group could easily obtain approval for important projects in a short period of time. India** has also issued a number of industrial policies that are conducive to the development of the Reliance Group.
WhileMukesh was born in 1957He attended Stanford Graduate School of Business. During this period, fromSince 1986Mukesh and his brother Anil began to help their father with the day-to-day affairs of the group. After Drubai's death, Mukesh became chairman of the group, and his younger brother Anil was vice chairman of the group.
In 2003, Reliance Group's petroleum exploration, petrochemical and other businesses were fully profitable, and its market value nearly doubled compared with 2002. Since then, the brothers have also successfully implemented a diversification strategy into the field of mobile communications, makingReliance Telecom has captured 21 percent of India's mobile communications market in less than a year
However, the conflict between Mukesh and Anil also gradually surfaced after their father's death. Mukesh's gradual control of the group's core business has made Anil feel depressed about his share of assets and his ability to make management decisions. As a result, the two brothers were caught in contradictions and struggles for a long timeIn 2004, the conflict intensified. However, after much mediation, Mukesh and Anil decided to settle. June 2005, under the ruling of the old mother,The brothers held a ceremony at the family temple to separate their families。Mukesh is in charge of the group's petrochemical business, Reliance Industries***, and India Petrochemical Corporation, taking over the family-run petrochemical and energy industries, using the Reliance Industries name, while Anil is at the helm of the family's telecommunications and power business, which continues to bear the name Reliance Group. The brothers agreed that they would not interfere in each other's domain for ten years.
In 2016The ten-year covenant has just expired. Mukesh was formedreliance jio, entered the Indian 4G market, successfully attracted more than 200 million users by providing low-cost or even free smartphones, and by providing users with short-term free ** and ultra-low **, it won 100 million users in six months after it was launched, and accumulated 3With 400 million subscribers, it has become one of the largest mobile operators in India. Through the ** battle, he defeated Anil in the competition with the telecommunications company managed by his younger brother Anil. In 2017, Anil's Reliance Telecom was forced to withdraw from the Indian telecom market, saddled with huge debts and faced jail time. At this time, Mukesh took the initiative to help Anil repay his $80 million debt. September 2017, with the success of the Jio phone,The 60-year-old Mukesh is the richest man in Asia with a net worth of $37.8 billion。After that, Mukesh acquired the company and assets in Anil's hands, and inIn 2019, fully in control of the Reliance Group.
April 2020, the founder of the social networking giant Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and Mukesh Ambani, announced a deal. Facebook has agreed$5.7 billionAcquired a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Group responsible for telecom broadband10% equity interest in Jio Platforms。This transaction brings the corporate value of Jio Platforms to a significant milestone$66 billion。At this time, JIO has 3 in IndiaWith 8.8 billion users, Facebook WhatsApp has 400 million users in India, and India is the largest market for WhatsApp. In fact, the partnership between Mukesh and Facebook aims to close the loop between social, e-commerce and payments. At the time, the partnership was also considered the largest deal since Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014 and was the largest foreign direct investment in India's IT sector.
In October of this year, Jio announced that it had 70 million 5G subscribers. His business strategy is similar to that of some Chinese mobile phone makers, focusing on low-cost smartphones and gradually turning to software and services as market share expands.
Today, Reliance Industries accounts for 3% of India's GDP, contributes one-fifteenth of India's tax revenue, and accounts for more than one-fifth of the total profits of all private companies. 1 in 4 Indian investors have bought the group's **.
According toApril 4, 2023Published by Forbes magazine in the United States2023 Forbes Global Billionaires List, Mukesh Ambani$83.4 billion's wealth ranks 9th on the list, and at the same timeBecome the richest man in India in 2023。Fortune magazineEarly August 2023ReleaseFortune 500 companiesThe list is displayedIn 2022, Reliance Industries Group's revenue and ranking continued to rise$109.5 billionTurnover ranks88th placeNet profit was $8.3 billionReliance Industries Group also has a market capitalization of $200 billion, making it the largest company in India by market capitalization.
Mukesh, who had amassed a huge fortune, also began to marchRetailIn an attempt to create a new business growth point for the group, he built a large supermarket like the Western society throughout IndiaRecently, he recently opened his US$1 billion Jio World Plaza, a commercial and cultural complex in Mumbai's financial and business district, attracting many international luxury brands.
A story of love and respect
Mukesh's wife, Nita, was born into an ordinary middle-class family in India, and has a keen interest in dance and has shown extraordinary talent for dance. In 1985, Mukesh fell in love with Nita at first sight, but Nita did not immediately accept the relationship. However, despite the different family backgrounds, Mukesh pursued her steadfastly, touching Nita's heart with his patience and sincerity.
Although Nita was born into an ordinary middle-class Indian family, she comes from a high-caste family. In India, caste and social status carry great symbolic significance, and Nitta's background from a high caste background has also brought her some special treatment. However, for Mukesh, Nita's caste is not important, what matters is that he has a deep affection for Nita. Over the past 40 years, Mukesh has cared for Nita in every way, and his sincere affection and respect have remained the same. Designer clothes, shoes worth millions of rupees each, **jewellery ......Luxury has been the norm in Nitta's life for 38 years of marriage. Her nose ring alone is worth 20 million. Not to mention her mobile phone**, it is also inlaid with a value of 1200 million pink diamonds. In addition, a $68 million airplane and a Mercedes-Benz studded with 380,000 real diamonds were given as birthday gifts, and a huge amount of money was spent to build a 27-story mansion ......These are Mukesh's acts of pampering his wife.
After marriage, Nita did not stop at housework because she became the wife of a wealthy family, she actively devoted herself to education, founded Ambani International School, and also taught herself, and promoted Ambani International School to become one of the top schools in India. She strongly believes in the importance of education to society and strives to create a better learning environment for her students. In such an educational atmosphere, she worked hard to promote equality between men and women, so that more girls could participate in the basketball team, and injected new impetus into the development of Indian society.
She also worked hard to learn business knowledge, helped Mukesh solve business problems, gave advice to Mukesh, and actively developed the company's industrial chain. In addition to helping her husband in business, Nita also worked hard to help her husband expand his reputation. She is a well-known figure in international philanthropy and oversees Fidelity** and is the first female member of the Indian Olympic Committee. In 2016, Nita was named Asia's Most Influential Business Woman. Locally, Nita is known as the "First Lady of Indian Business".
Mukesh is not only very fond of his wife, but also very generous to his children. The wedding of daughter Isa Ambani cost 100 million US dollars, more than 5,000 guests on site, Mukesh sent 30 charter planes and 1,000 luxury cars to pick up guests, and there are former US Secretary of State Hillary, music diva Beyoncé, "Huffington Post" founder Huffington, Indian steel tycoon Mittal, "Wrestling Dad" protagonist Aamir Khan and other big celebrity guest lineup. Beyoncé's appearance fee alone is as high as 1300 million RMB. The wedding of his son Akash Ambani also had a lineup of luxurious guests such as Google Indian CEO Pichai, former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Bollywood movie stars. The wedding venue at the Jio World Center in the Bandera Kula complex in Mumbai can be rented for up to RMB14 per day50,000 yuan. The wedding dress worn by Akash and his wife at their wedding was covered with **. Akara wore gold and silver and married his wife into the house. After the wedding, the Akash couple also held a separate fountain light show for the security army and police for the wedding.
However, the couple also experienced some challenges after getting married. In the early days of her marriage, Nita had a difficult time getting pregnant, but Mukesh never left her. Together they went through the hardships of IVF and eventually had a lovely child. In 1991, Akash and Isha were born in IVF, and after that, Nita naturally became pregnant with her son Anant, who was born in 1995. This experience not only strengthened the relationship between the two, but also made them cherish each other more.
Start the "** plan" in advance
Mukesh and Nita's eldest son, Akash, a graduate of Brown University in the United States with a major in economics, married his girlfriend Shiloka Mehta in 2019, who is the daughter of Russell Mehta, a wealthy Indian diamond businessman. Akash is now the chairman of Jio, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, India's largest telecom operator.
Mukesh and Nita's daughter, Isha, graduated from Yale University and Stanford University. In 2016, Isha founded her own ** e-commerce platform AJIO. In 2020, Isha served as the main negotiator for Reliance Industries, participating in Facebook's multibillion-dollar acquisition of a stake in Jio. In 2022, Isha became CEO of Reliance Retail, Inc., and is currently responsible for Reliance Group's retail, e-commerce and luxury businesses. In 2020, Fortune magazine named her the "heiress of the class" and ranked her 21st on the list of "India's Most Influential Women".
Mukesh and Nita's youngest son, Anant, who has suffered from asthma since childhood, is an avid food-goer, pet and car collector, and often accompanies his mother to cricket games. Anant, a graduate of Brown University, is now responsible for the new energy business of Reliance Industries.
Akash, Isha, and Anant are also called"India's Youngest Billionaire Entrepreneur".。Mukesh didn't want his family infighting with Anil to repeat itself. Over the past few years, Mukesh has integrated Isha, Akash and Anant into the family business, not only to gain experience in operations, but also to showcase the Reliance family.
Now, as an international enterprise with solid performance and gradual expansion outside the territoryReliance Industries is facing a key test for family businesses: succession. This year, Mukesh launched the "** Plan" ahead of schedule, bringing Akash, Isha and Anant into the core decision-making level of Reliance Industries. Isha, Akash and Anant joined the Board at the 2023 Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries on 28 August to serve as Non-Executive Directors. Mukesh Ambani's decision could be seen as a historic leadership transition, and perhaps it will serve as a model for family businesses in India.
For Reliance Industries, this transition is not only a transfer of power, but also a renewal of brand image and strategic direction. Isha, Akash and Anant, each with their own roles in a wide range of fields, from digital and retail to new energy, also indicates that Reliance will not only consolidate its strengths in traditional fields, but also focus on emerging fields such as digital and green energy.
From the perspective of educational background, all three of them have been influenced by the top higher education in the West, which has given them a global vision and way of thinking. This is undoubtedly a valuable asset for Reliance's future prospects in the global market.
However,Although this transition has been laid out in advance, its effectiveness and impact have yet to be tested by the market and time。The succession of family businesses from generation to generation is often uncertain, and how Mukesh ensures a smooth transition and the effective cooperation of his three children will be key.
Conclusion
As the richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani has achieved a business legend with his wisdom and courage, and has also had a profound impact on the layout of new energy and digital industries on a global scale. His journey reminds us that inheritance requires innovation, challenges contain opportunities, and responsibility makes great achievements. **NE-SALON ZJ