Biogas plants.
Getty
Reliance Industries – controlled by billionaires Mukesh Ambanithe richest man in India – spent 65 billion rupees (USD 7.6 billion) to build compressed biogas facilities in Andhra Pradesh in the southern country.
Reliance said in a statement on Wednesday that the company recently broke the ground in its first biogas facility in Prakasam in an area of Andhra Pradesh.
Reliance Industries plans to develop 500 such facilities on 500,000 acres of barren land in Andhra Pradesh. Reliance said the project will produce 4 million tons of compressed biogas and 1.1 million tons of organic fertilizer annually upon completion. It will create 250,000 jobs for rural youth.
“We think the project is more than just energy production,” said PMS Prasad, executive director of Reliance Industries. “It will enhance the community and promote the local economy. This will drive Andhra Pradesh’s clean energy ambitions forward.”
Reliance, which uses napier grass to grow to produce biogas in Andhra Pradesh, said it will provide a “major livelihood” to the local economy by renting leasing and fixed prices of grass produced by farmers.
According to Prasad, the project's fertilizer by-products will support farmers and transform barren land into fertile farmland. “We will turn waste into green wealth, empower and turn land into livelihoods,” Prasad said.
Reliance Industries has launched a $80 billion investment plan for renewable energy projects over the next 10 to 15 years to diversify its energy portfolio.
The conglomerate (also interested in petrochemicals, telecommunications, retail, media and financial services) was founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani (Yarn trader) and in 1966 as a small textile manufacturer. After his father died in 2002, Ambani and his young sibling Anil divided the family empire. Mukesh had a net worth of $94.3 billion. Forbes real-time data.
