RIYADH: India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is abandoning a $15 billion deal for Saudi Aramco to buy a 20 percent stake in its oil refining and chemicals unit, it said.
The firms signed a letter of intent in 2019 for Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter, to acquire a 20 percent stake of the oil-to-chemicals business of Reliance.
But Reliance and other major Indian firms have since poured billions of dollars into green power as the government pushes to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels and as the country’s cities are assailed by pollution.
“Due to (the) evolving nature of Reliance’s business portfolio, Reliance and Saudi Aramco have mutually determined that it would be beneficial for both parties to re-evaluate the proposed investment in O2C business in light of the changed context. Consequently, the current application with NCLT for segregating the O2C business from RIL is being withdrawn,” Reliance said in a statement on Friday.
It said Aramco will continue to be a preferred partner for investments in India and will work with it and SABIC for investments in the Kingdom.
“The deep engagement over the last two years has given both Reliance and Saudi Aramco a greater understanding of each other, providing a platform for broader areas of cooperation,” the statement added.
