Billionaire Gautam Adani’s ports-to-energy conglomerate has floated a subsidiary that will set up refineries, petrochemical complexes and hydrogen plants — businesses that will directly compete with Mukesh Ambani’s company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
In a stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises said it has incorporated Adani Petrochemicals Ltd (APL) as a wholly owned subsidiary to “carry on the business of setting up refineries, petrochemicals complexes, specialty chemicals units, hydrogen and related chemical plants and other such similar units”.
The conglomerate has operations spanning sea ports to airports to electricity generation and transmission, renewable energy, mining, natural gas, food processing, defence and infrastructure. Its foray into petrochemicals and other related areas will directly compete with RIL.
Reliance Industries Ltd is the largest producer of petrochemicals in the country and among the top-10 in the world. It also owns and operates the world’s largest oil refining complex.
Green goals
In June, Ambani announced a mega Rs 75,000-crore investment in setting up four “giga factories” to make solar modules, hydrogen, fuel cells and to build a battery grid to store electricity over the next three years. The solar modules will enable 100 gigawatts of energy by 2030.
Adani, who earlier this year took his spot behind Ambani as Asia’s second-richest man, has previously announced plans to become the world’s largest renewable energy producer by 2030. He has got France’s TotalEnergies SE as partner in Adani Green Energy Ltd — the group’s renewable energy arm. The French giant has also invested directly in some of the projects in the firm’s 25 gigawatts solar-energy portfolio.
Chemical interest
The Adani group had in January 2019 signed an initial pact with German chemical giant BASF to invest about 2 billion euros in a chemical factory at Mundra in Gujarat. This was expanded in October that year by involving Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of UAE and Borealis AG.
The four partners completed a joint feasibility study for a $4-billion chemical complex in Mundra, comprising a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant, a polypropylene (PP) production and an acrylics value chain complex, according to a BASF press statement of November 5, 2020. This project was, however, put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Petrochem arm
In April this year, Adani Enterprises incorporated a wholly owned arm — Mundra Petrochem Ltd (MPL) — with the aim to “set up various feedstock based refinery, petrochemical and chemical plants in a phased manner in India and and to undertake all such activities associated with land acquisition, design and engineering, procurement... and other related undertakings”.
It isn’t clear if MPL was incorporated as a follow up of the 2019 pact with BASF and others, and if the new subsidiary will set up plants at sites other than Mundra.
Adani Petrochemicals Ltd is one of the numerous subsidiaries Adani group has incorporated since the beginning of this fiscal. The conglomerate had ventured into cement business in June with its new subsidiary Adani Cement.
