Reliance to commission 1st solar giga-factory to achieve net zero emission

Reliance Industries Ltd, India's most valuable company, plans to commission its first solar giga-factory in the current fiscal as it pivots a green pathway to achieve net zero carbon emissions from operations by 2035.

In its largest annual report, the firm said it is targeting to commission the first train of 20GW solar PV (photovoltaic) manufacturing by the end of 2024-25 fiscal (April 2024 to March 2025) and scale up to 20GW in a phased manner over 2026.

The solar giga factory will include manufacturing of PV modules, cells, wafers and ingots, polysilicon, and glass at a single location. The modules convert sunlight into electricity.

It is also targeting industrialising sodium-ion cell production at the MW level in 2025 and first 50 MWh a year lithium battery cells pilot in 2026.

Reliance had in 2021 announced plans to invest USD 10 billion over three years to develop a new fuels business based on 100 GW of renewable power capacity by 2030. The plan involves setting up four giga