The conglomerate on Tuesday inked a pact with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to set up a multi-billion-dollar chemical project in Al Ruwais city of the United Arab Emirates.
“This is a significant step in globalising Reliance’s operations, and we are proud to partner with ADNOC in this important project for the region,” Mukesh, the Group’s chairman, said in a statement.
The project at TA’ZIZ Industrial complex will manufacture ethylene dichloride, a key building block for production of PVC in India, according to the Reliance group.
The project will have a capacity to produce 940,000 tonnes of chlor-alkali, 1.1 million tonnes of ethylene dichloride and 360,000 tonnes of PVC annually, the statement said.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and ADNOC’s CEO said: “The domestic production of critical industrial raw materials strengthens our supply chains, drives in-country value and accelerates economic diversification.”
The development comes barely a week after Mukesh appointed the chairman of Saudi Aramco, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, on the board of the Reliance Group.
The richest person in Asia and the 14th richest in the world, Mukesh’s current net worth is around USD 78 billion. His Reliance Group is now India’s most valuable company by market capitalisation.
UNB had earlier reported about Mukesh’s rumoured plans to hand over three core business areas of Reliance Industries to his three children — Akash, Isha and Anant — and also about his aggressive fundraising spree to make his conglomerate debt-free amid the pandemic.
The fundraising spree was aimed at reducing Reliance’s dependence on the flagship oil sector to diversify into telecom and e-commerce. Last year, Reliance raised USD 15.2 billion by selling stakes in its telecom unit Jio and another USD 7 billion through rights issue.
The digital news outlet had also reported about Reliance’s plans to take its telecom arm Jio public in the 2021-22 fiscal, riding on the increased digital adoption across the world, in the wake of Covid. India’s internet users are likely to grow to 850 million by 2022.
Source: United News of Bangladesh