Power Pact: Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani will work together, Reliance took 26% stake in this MP project

For the first time, the country’s richest billionaires, who are also among the world’s richest industrialists, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, are entering into a ‘power’ deal. Ambani will take a minority stake in a power unit of Adani, his companies announced on Thursday. Ambani’s Reliance Industries will buy 26% stake in Mahan Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Power, for Rs 50 crore and will get 500 MW of power from the Madhya Pradesh plant for its needs. The development brings both the corporates into an exclusive power arrangement for 20 years, thanks to India’s electricity regulations. Adani Power said a unit of 600MW capacity of its Mahan Thermal Power Plant in MP will be designated as a captive unit in line with the rules.

Adani Power said

To avail the benefits of the rules, Reliance Industries will have to take a strategic 26% stake in the captive unit and invest accordingly. Reliance Industries did not disclose where it plans to use the power obtained from Mahan Energy. The deal is expected to be completed within two weeks after receiving all regulatory approvals. Reliance Industries already has captive power plants at its oil refining and petrochemical complexes in Gujarat.

Both the industrialists are considered rivals of each other.

The two industrialists, who are from Gujarat, are often considered rivals by industry commentators and are seen trailing each other in various rich lists. However, both have built their empires on different businesses. While Ambani has interests in oil and gas, retail, telecom and financial services, Adani’s focus is on infrastructure spanning airports, ports and cement. The two have rarely crossed each other’s paths in recent times, except in a few businesses like media, clean energy and data centers. Two years ago, a company with links to Ambani sold its stake in news broadcaster NDTV to Adani, marking Adani’s first major foray into the media sector. The deal pits him against Ambani, who runs Network 18, one of India’s largest media companies. The two industrialists have also pledged billions of dollars in clean energy commitments as they aim to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050.

Adani attended Anant Ambani’s pre-wedding ceremony

Earlier this month, Adani and his family, including wife and children, attended the pre-wedding celebrations of Ambani’s youngest son Anant. Ambani, who took charge of Reliance Industries after the death of his father and the company’s founder in Gujarat, has a net worth of $117 billion and is ranked the 11th richest person in the world by Forbes. Adani is also not far behind in this list. A first-generation entrepreneur who started out in commodity trading, Adani has a net worth of $81 billion and is listed as the 17th richest person globally, according to Forbes.