GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK

Now that the country’s top two billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani are going green, will it help India’s power sector transition from coal-based plants to renewables sooner than expected?

- PRERNA LIDHOO

INDIAN INDUSTRIALISTS, among the richest in the country, if not the world, are no longer aiming for the moon. They are aiming for the sun. And wind and water. Because, after dominating multiple industries, they have now turned their sights to green energy. And that can only be good news for India’s target of generating 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030.

The latest entrant in the race was Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries and the richest person in Asia. On June 24, at the company’s annual general meeting, he announced two ambitious targets: for Reliance to generate at least 100 GW of solar energy by 2030 and become net carbon zero by 2035. That does two things. First, it pits Ambani against Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group and the second-richest person in Asia, whose ambitions are nothing short of making his company the world’s largest solar power company. Second, the heft of the two billionaires and other industrial powerhouses could propel India’s switch to renewable energy sooner than expected.

Adani Green Energy, Adani Group’s renewable energy arm, has a portfolio of 15.4 GW of renewable energy across 11 states, of which about 25%, or 3.7 GW, is operational and the rest under construction. Finally, the Tata Group-controlled Tata Power has a capacity of 12.8 GW, of which currently 31%, or 3.9 GW, is from clean energy. It plans to boost that contribution to 80% by 2030.