United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor visited Reliance Industries' Jamnagar complex in Gujarat on Wednesday, where Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Executive Director Anant Ambani showcased the world’s largest single-site refinery and the company’s fast-expanding new-energy manufacturing programme.

The visit comes as Washington seeks closer energy and commercial ties with India. Rubio’s delegation was shown the scale, advanced technology and integrated operations of the Jamnagar refinery, which can process about 1.4 million barrels of crude a day.

Inside the giga-complex

A major focus of the tour was the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex, Reliance's integrated clean-energy manufacturing hub spread across 5,000 acres in Jamnagar. The project is expected to involve an investment of about Rs 75,000 crore, or roughly $10 billion.

The complex is designed to bring together manufacturing of solar photovoltaic modules, battery energy-storage systems, electrolysers, fuel cells and power electronics in one location.

Reliance says the aim is to build a fully integrated supply chain for India’s energy transition rather than depend on imported clean-energy equipment.

Rubio and Gor were briefed that the giga-factories are being commissioned in phases. Reliance has already delivered its first 200 MWp of heterojunction solar modules from Jamnagar, while its battery energy-storage giga-factory has entered advanced commissioning.

Solar and battery plans

Reliance's solar giga-factory is intended to cover the value chain from polysilicon, glass, ingots and wafers to cells and finished modules. The company is targeting 10 GWp of annual solar manufacturing capacity, with plans to expand to 20 GWp.

The battery facility is being built around lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, chemistry. Its first phase is targeted at 40 GWh of annual capacity, with equipment installed and production ramp-up planned in the second half of 2026.

Reliance has raised its longer-term battery and cell manufacturing target to 120 GWh a year, up from an earlier 100 GWh goal. The battery giga-factory will also produce battery chemicals, cells and packs, containerised storage solutions and support battery recycling.

Green hydrogen push

The Jamnagar complex also includes plans for a giga-scale electrolyser manufacturing facility, a key component in producing green hydrogen at scale. Reliance has secured exclusive India technology-licensing rights from Norwegian electrolyser maker Nel ASA for alkaline electrolysers.

The company has also qualified for the government’s production-linked incentive scheme for 300 MW of annual electrolyser manufacturing capacity and for green-hydrogen production of 90 kilotonnes per annum.

The discussions between the Ambanis and the US delegation covered reliable and affordable energy supplies, resilient supply chains, technological advances and the investment needed to meet growing demand. They also explored commercial partnerships across conventional and new energy.

Reliance highlighted the increasing intersection of energy and digital infrastructure, particularly the need for dependable power to support data centres and the expansion of the digital economy. Mukesh Ambani and Anant Ambani outlined opportunities for collaboration with US companies in technology, engineering and advanced manufacturing.

The stop carried particular significance amid reports that Rubio’s India visit included an effort to encourage Indian refiners to source more Venezuelan crude. Reliance's Jamnagar complex is a major buyer and processor of international crude, making it central to any discussion on global oil flows and energy security.