Two of Asia’s richest businessmen — both Gujaratis — reiterated their mega investment plans for the state on Wednesday in the presence of another fellow Gujarati, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani group, and Mukesh D Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries Ltd, who are rivals in clean energy, provided details of their mammoth capex in the state in this segment.

Modi touted India’s economic prospects at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. India is a “powerhouse for talented youth, a technology hub for finding solutions and a democracy that delivers”, he said.

Ambani did not announce any fresh investments in the state as he has embarked on a massive Rs 75,000 crore capex in new energy and new materials in Gujarat, with five Giga factories planned at Jamnagar.

The Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex over 5,000 acres in Jamnagar will be commissioned in the second half of 2024, he said.

Adani announced fresh investments of Rs 2 lakh crore in the state over five years. He said the funds were meant for the largest clean energy project in the world.

Speaking at the event, Ambani said one-third of Reliance’s investments of Rs 12 lakh crore in the country over the past decade are in Gujarat.

Sources said Reliance has consistently invested in the state over the past several years and this continued even during Covid times. There will be fresh outlay, though it will not be on a scale of earlier investments.

Ambani said Reliance will set up India’s first carbon fibre facility at Hazira, without giving financial and other details.

“Reliance will continue to play a leading role in Gujarat’s growth story with significant investments in the next 10 years.’’

“We will help Gujarat’s target to meet half of its energy needs through renewable energy by the year 2030. For this, we have started building the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex. This will generate a large number of green jobs and enable the production of green products and materials and will make Gujarat a leading exporter of green products,’’ he said.

Adani drive

Adani said the group is building three Giga factories to make solar modules, wind turbines and hydrogen electrolysers.

In the Rann of Kutch desert, it is building the world’s largest green energy park, covering 725 square kilometres.

The park will have facilities to produce 30 Gigawatts of solar energy.

“Over the next five years, the Adani group will invest over Rs 2 lakh crore in Gujarat — that is $25 billion — thereby creating over 1 lakh direct and indirect jobs,” he said.

Speaking at the inauguration of the 10th edition of the business summit, which saw the participation of state heads and chief executives of top private companies, Modi said all major rating agencies think that India will be among the three largest economies of the world in the next few years.