Reliance to restructure and repurpose gasification assets

The Board of Reliance Industries Limited has decided to implement a Scheme of Arrangement to transfer Gasification Undertaking into a Wholly-Owned Subsidiary (WOS).

The gasification project at Jamnagar was set up with the objective to produce syngas to meet the energy requirements as refinery off-gases, which was earlier served as fuel, were repurposed into feedstock for the Refinery Off Gas Cracker (ROGC).

This enables production of olefins at competitive capital and operating costs. Syngas as a fuel ensures reliability of supply and helps reduce volatility in the energy costs. Syngas is also used to produce hydrogen for consumption in the Jamnagar refinery.

RIL targets to have a portfolio which is fully recyclable, sustainable and net carbon zero, according to an RIL spokesperson.

This will be achieved by transitioning to high value materials and chemicals with renewables as the source of meeting its energy requirements. As RIL progressively transitions to renewables as its primary source of energy, more syngas will become available for upgradation to high value chemicals including C1 chemicals and hydrogen. Further, carbon dioxide released during the process of producing hydrogen is highly concentrated and easy to capture, substantially reducing the cost of carbon capture. Overall, these steps will help sharply reduce the carbon footprint of the Jamnagar complex.

India is a high-growth market and is expected to continue to see a deficit of these high value chemicals in the foreseeable future. Repurposing the gasification assets will help use syngas as a reliable source of feedstock to produce these chemicals and cater to growing domestic demand, resulting in an attractive business opportunity. Further, as the hydrogen economy expands, RIL will be well positioned to be the first mover to establish a hydrogen ecosystem.

With optionality in applications for syngas, the nature of risk and returns associated with the gasifier assets will likely be distinct from those of the other businesses of the company. This distinct business profile also provides the opportunity to potentially attract a different pool of investors and strategic partners for the gasification assets, and new material and chemical projects.