The Company acknowledges that
the first three industrial revolutions
based on fossil fuels have disturbed
the natural carbon cycle of the planet.
It recognises that the Fourth Industrial
Revolution offers an opportunity to
repair and restore the earth. Reliance
believes that new ideas, new materials,
environment-friendly energy sources and digitisation will bring about the
paradigm shift required to achieve
its Net Carbon Zero target by 2035.
Through its intellectual capital, Reliance
not only focuses on business growth
but also contributes to UN SDGs. The
Company’s R&D efforts endeavour to
improve agricultural productivity, use
CO2 as a valuable feedstock, provide
access to the internet at an affordable
price and reimagine entire energy
ecosystems. Reliance is using its R&D
skills and competencies to identify
new ways to detect, protect and treat
COVID-19 patients and find solutions
to help communities at large stay safe
from the pandemic.
Leveraging its Intellectual Capital to Fight COVID-19
- The Reliance R&D team designed a
process to produce sanitisers aligned
with WHO specifications at 20%
of market cost.
- The team is working with various
CSIR labs to certify Nexar polymer,
which has shown the ability to
destroy the lipid layer of various
viruses and bacteria.
- Reliance developed novel costeffective
diagnostic kits called
‘R-Green’ and ‘R-Green Pro’ for
COVID-19 detection. The kits have
received ICMR approval.
- The Company submitted a proposal
for the application of Niclosamide as
a potential drug against COVID-19.
- Reliance is working to address
insufficient ventilator supply in
emergency rooms across hospitals
in India by deploying a concept
developed in Italy, which enables
CPAP machine with a 3D-printed
charlotte valve and special
snorkelling mask.
- Reliance foresaw the significant
rise in demand for onsite oxygen as
the pandemic rages. It has started
working on value-engineered robust
design for oxygen generators
capable of producing 5-7 litres
of oxygen per minute with a
purity of 90-95%.
Innovation and Technology
Reliance believes that innovation and
technology are key pillars of growth.
The Company’s focus on innovation has
enabled it to grow from a humble textile
trading firm to a Fortune 500 company.
Now ranked among the world’s best,
Reliance nurtures an entrepreneurial
and innovation-led mindset that equips
it and the country to boldly venture
into the future. At Reliance, R&D
investments have resulted in several
breakthrough technologies and a
diverse patent portfolio. The Company’s
robust internal Intellectual Property
(IP) governance framework ensures
that these patents are aligned with the
Company’s business goals. In addition,
an IP governance framework helps it
adhere to compliance requirements.
Research and Technology
(R&T)
The role of the R&T unit at Reliance
is to create innovative products and
processes to augment the profitability
and growth of the Company by creating
stakeholder value and providing a
long-term competitive advantage. In
line with the Company’s core goal of
solving societal problems, the unit also
helps businesses broaden reach and
transform lives.
Clean Energy
- Reliance R&D has been operating
a pilot facility where it converts
sunlight, CO2 and seawater to
renewable biocrude. The plant has
been running continuously without
crashing for more than four years,
a world record.
- A catalyst that can be used to
convert high-ash Indian coal to highvalue
syngas has been developed
by the R&D team.
- Reliance is testing a High
Temperature-Polymer Electrolyte
Membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cell system
on simulated Jio towers.
Circular Economy
- Reliance is committed to pioneering
circular economy practices and
become one of the leading plastic
recyclers in the world.
- It is using waste plastic in road
constructions and developing
bio-plastic through the catalytic
gasification process.
- The Company has developed a
catalytic process that can convert
plastic waste to stable oil, which
can be processed in refineries or
petrochemical plants to produce
plastics again.
- Reliance Catalytic Hydrothermal
Liquefaction (RCAT-HTL) technology
converts any organic waste and
biomass into renewable crude.
The renewable crude can be
further processed to produce
transportation fuel. The technology
is ready for commercialisation and
has the potential to significantly
contribute to the Company’s Net
Carbon Zero target.
- Reliance is addressing the
environmental impact of discarded
PET based fabric by separating
PET from mixed fabric blends and
converting it back to fibre and fabric.
- The Company’s R&D team is
developing an in-house technology
to covert waste recyclable polyester
material into valuable chemicals
- The team has also developed a waste
PVC based adhesive.
Climate Action
- Reliance has developed a
catalyst to convert methanol
and CO2 to high-value Dimethyl
Carbonate (DMC) product.
- The Company is also developing a
sorbent based circulating fluidised
bed process for concentrating CO2
Bio-innovation
- Reliance has pioneered synthetic
biology led innovation for next-gen
biomaterials and food ingredients to
create new business opportunities in
food, agriculture, material and health.
- Its expertise in synthetic biology
has helped the Company develop
alternatives for conventional food
and feed ingredients, with one of the
lowest carbon footprints.
- It is working on bio-innovations to
increase agriculture productivity
by combining its expertise in
photosynthesis research with
AI and ML tools.
- Reliance is working on using
prediction systems for novel
agriculture solutions and synthetic
biology product development using
CRISPR technology.
- It is using the Bio Coal Bed
Methane (Bio-CBM) process to
turn un-minable coal to methane.
Methane can help meet India’s
burgeoning energy needs through
cleaner energy.
- Reliance is developing sustainable
biomaterials and polymers (such as
nanocellulose, polyhydroxyalkanoate
(PHA) and high-strength silk, among
others), which can be produced on
an algae platform using CO2.
Industry and Infrastructure
- Reliance has developed a new
technology for functionalisation of
the elastomer. It has developed a new
class of ionic cross-linked elastomeric
materials, which provides excellent
adhesion to rubber, metal, wood
substrates and plastic.
- The R&D team is developing carbon
fibre composites to make lightweight
automotive body parts.
- Reliance has developed internally
plasticised PVC (IP-PVC) for
specialised application and polymer
composites (disentangled high
molecular weight polyethylene) for
lightweight vehicle and body armour
- The Company’s R&D and Petro
Chemical business have jointly
developed thermoset composite
solutions that can be coated on
surfaces as a protection from
corrosive environments.
Oil to Chemicals (O2C)
- Reliance R&D team developed a
new Multizone Catalytic Cracking
(MCC) process to convert a wide
range of distressed hydrocarbon
feedstock and/or neat crude to
high-value propylene, ethylene and
BTX (Benzene, Toluene and Xylene)
without producing any fuels. This
technology is a foundation for the
Company’s O2C sustainability plan. A
5 KBPSD MCC demonstration plant
design is also in progress.
- Reliance developed low-cost
anti-coking and sulfiding additive
Disulfide Oil (DSO), which is an
effective alternative to specialty
additives such as Di-methyl
Di-sulphide. It has received
several awards for this patented
technology and started commercial
production of the DSO.
- The Company developed an inhouse
FCC catalyst to improve
conversion and propylene yield. It
has also developed a catalyst for
high-performance material, a slurry
ethylene polymerisation process
to produce bimodal pipe and blow
moulding grade HDPE, novel
cobalt-based catalyst for linear PBR
grade and a bimetallic catalyst to
replace vanadium.
- Reliance developed the Reliance
Olefins Removal Catalyst (RELORCAT),
a zeolite-based adsorbent
for BI reduction in aromatics. RELORCAT
is regenerable, less costly
and has a better life cycle.
- The Company built an online
corrosion-monitoring tool using the
dynamic diffusion reaction model.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
- Reliance is using facial
recognition technology to comply
with DoT KYC norms.
- Jio is the first telecom network
globally to roll out VoLTE at scale.
- Reliance co-developed an IIoT
device to monitor the health of rotary
equipment to reduce maintenance
cost. It aims to bring transparency
and traceability in goods
transportation through investments
and research in blockchain.
- The Company implemented
several AI/ML projects in the areas
of polymers, algal cultivation and
catalyst development.
Technology Absorption
- The Reliance R&D team developed a
catalyst for the improvement of the
cycle length of DHT units.
- The team designed a low- cost
process for extraction of valuable
metals from gasification slag.
- The team also developed ICP and
Homo Grades PP with Reliance
Proprietary Diester Catalyst System.
- The team developed zeolite
molecular sieve-based adsorptive
process and commercialisation for 1
Octene purification for HMD.
- The team designed an adsorbent
and a process to ensure 80%
propylene recovery from the
polyolefin plant off-gas.
Focus Areas
Reliance will continue
to focus on building
a society powered by
digitisation – one that
can transform lives
and address global
issues such as climate
change. The Company
plans to invest in
R&D in line with its
growth ambitions and
relevant needs of the
country. It will focus on
supporting emerging
growth opportunities,
fostering circular
economy, reducing
GHG emissions and
encouraging adoption
of sustainable
practices.