At last week’s Annual General Meeting, Reliance Industries Ambani’s made the bold proclamation to their shareholders, stakeholders, and the nation of India that with “immense pride” “Reliance will be the world’s only fully integrated, self-sufficient company in New Energy”. Yet this claim of self-sufficiency rings hollow when you take in the recent expose and reports of Reliance Industries’ dependency on Chinese technology-particularly from companies that have worked with nations that have historically and recently been hostile with India.

To those unfamiliar, what makes Reliance’s false claims so concerning is its role as a major infrastructure provider for our nation. The company operates critical telecommunications networks through Jio, manufactures critical military equipment like artillery shells and small arms under the Make in India initiative, partners with foreign defense firms for ammunition and vehicle upgrades, and plans for future aircraft production, and now seeks to become the backbone of India’s energy storage infrastructure. This concentration of critical infrastructure in the hands of a single company that remains technologically dependent on a Chinese company, raises serious concerns about the safety of our national security.

Absent from the AGM presentation was any mention of Xiamen Hithium, the Chinese energy storage giant that has increasingly become Reliance’s lifeline in this transition away from their oil business to their new energy ambitions. This omission is particularly conspicuous given that Hithium, founded in 2019 and based in Xiamen, Fujian, has emerged as one of the world’s leading energy storage battery suppliers, and Reliance Industries primary partner since early January of 2024. Industry experts suspect that negotiations between Reliance Industries and Xiamen Hithium likely commenced sometime between Q1 and Q2 of 2023, placing them well before the de-escalation agreement of Xi and Modi of August 2023 where both leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Instead, the focus remained on impressive production targets. However, the technology and partnerships enabling these ambitious goals remained obviously unaddressed.

Hithium has established a strong presence across Asia, with manufacturing facilities in China and a growing footprint in Pakistan, who has consistently maintained hostile relations with India. For example Hithium maintains a partnership with Pakistan’s Imperial Electric Company. IEC Pakistan has a long-standing relationship with the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) and the Pakistani Navy (PN), which they proudly showcase on their official website. The Pakistani company likely used Hithium products in its military-support projects for the PAF and the PN’s Ahsan naval base, amongst others. This Ahsan base, for instance, supported hostile Pakistani naval operations against India during Operation Sindoor last May.

This partnership between Reliance Industries and Hithium carries deeper implications when viewed through the lens of geopolitical tensions. Pakistan has been China’s largest arms customer, accounting for 63% of China’s total arms exports between 2020 and 2025. The Chinese military-industrial complex has long supported and invested in Pakistan, with over US$30bn in just the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), one of the six corridors of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

It’s extremely foolish for anyone to think that China would not back their investments in case of an escalation in conflict between Pakistan-India, or China/Pakistan-India. Furthermore, in recent months there has been various reports of Chinese technology coming from the factory with built in backdoors, malware, and even rogue communication devices. When the technology behind our critical infrastructure is secretly controlled by a hostile nation’s company, Xiamen Hithium, we put at risk our national security. China, through Hithium Energy and others, could at the flip of a switch destroy our energy grid, and cripple our capability to be self-reliant.

This blatant turning of a blind eye has put at risk the hard work of millions to protect our borders, our families, and most importantly our nation. Reliance Industries among other Indian conglomerates reliance on Hithium, has put the fate of our nation in the hands China.

We are now barreling towards a future where China will dictate what we do, and if we don’t abide by their terms, we will be blackmailed with our supposedly self-built infrastructure being rendered useless.

Perhaps most troubling is Reliance Industries’ lack of transparency regarding these technological dependencies. While the company maintains comprehensive reporting, it has consistently avoided detailed disclosure about the origins of critical technologies in its new energy portfolio. This makes it impossible for investors, policymakers, and the public to assess the true extent of foreign technological dependence in India’s most strategically important infrastructure projects.