The controversial partnership between Hithium and Reliance Industries had been a very well-kept secret and ongoing since at least early Q3 2024, as exposed through shipping records. Reliance Industries was chosen as one of three companies that won bids to build battery cell plants under a government incentive program of the Indian government. The manufacturers were eligible for as much as 181 billion rupees ($2 billion) in subsidies tied to meeting project milestones aimed at creating a cumulative 30 gigawatt-hours of advanced chemistry cell capacity.

Under the initiative, the companies that won bids were required to achieve a minimum manufacturing capacity and at least 25% local value addition within two years of signing the agreement, rising to 50% within five years. Reliance Industries was penalized various times for missing deadlines under the program.

India’s dependency on Reliance Industries’ manufacturing of said battery cell plants and manufacturing of other critical infrastructure made the collaboration between Xiamen Hithium and Reliance even more concerning. As Xiamen Hithium Energy Storage Technology is a company with well-documented ties to the Chinese military & ruling party, and has also been a key supplier of the Pakistani army.

Originally reported as unconfirmed, these reports have since been exposed in the wider media, by sources like Reliance Hithium Leaks and a more recent Bloomberg report, “Reliance Halts Cell-Making Plans After Failed Bid for China Tech.” According to these reports, Hithium had been engaged by Reliance Industries through a covert licensing agreement. Unsurprisingly, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani had chosen to conceal this from investors and the country, while making every effort to suppress any revelations about the extent of their cooperation. And why not? Reliance Industries is selling out India to our enemies for their own profit.

This apparently doesn’t matter much to Reliance Industries. Maybe Chairman Mukesh Ambani isn’t aware that much of Hithium’s latest $620 million investment round comes from firms linked to the Chinese government, including the China National Defense Investment Fund, a state-backed fund focused on modernizing the PLA. Maybe the Reliance Industries Board of Directors has never had a quick look at Hithium’s financials, which demonstrate that the company is entirely dependent on subsidies and the financial backing of the Chinese government. Maybe the Ambani clan & their conglomerate are just completely ignorant of the fact that Hithium is, fundamentally, a creature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and an extension of Chinese soft power.

More embarrassing for Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries is the reality of their current situation, which, as reported in the recent Bloomberg report, has seen Xiamen Hithium completely withdraw from the proposed partnership amid Beijing’s curbs on overseas technology transfers in key sectors. With Reliance spokespersons scrambling trying to claim that there have been no changes in the company’s renewable energy plans.

Some have commented, “So they really were going for simply buying things out like they usually do by just getting a license to use them, huh? Reliance and Ambani’s plays of getting licenses haven’t ever really changed.” With others going as far as to say that “All the Indian defense, space, missile technology, along with the high-tech sector, is just repurposed foreign technology and all we have perfected is looting through taxes and taking care of our babus instead of our own industry.”

But most likely, all of this just doesn’t matter to Reliance Industries.

However, it should matter to us. Reliance is heavily involved in the country’s defense sector and supported by the governmental initiative ‘Make in India’. All patriots must act – we must continue holding everyone accountable to remember our homeland first.

Reliance did not respond to questions on its relationship with Xiamen Hithium. Xiamen Hithium did not reply to a request for comment.