BILLIONAIRE Gautam Adani’s Adani Group is seeking to raise as much as US$4 billion to help develop manufacturing plants that would produce low-cost green hydrogen, according to people familiar with the matter.

Adani New Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of flagship company Adani Enterprises, will take the lead raising the money from domestic and international banks and is in early-stage talks with several lenders, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.

Representatives for Adani didn’t respond to a request for comment.

France’s TotalEnergies and Adani said in June they plan to invest US$5 billion to produce green hydrogen and related products in India, as the world’s third-largest polluting nation seeks to decarbonise. Gautam Adani has said in the past that 75 per cent of the group’s forecast capital expenditure will be in green businesses and his companies plan to invest US$20 billion over the next decade in renewables, green component manufacturing and related infrastructure.

Tycoons like Adani and his rival Mukesh Ambani are betting on green hydrogen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to establish India’s leadership in the transition towards cleaner technology.

“Green hydrogen holds a strong promise for India’s future energy self-reliance,” Adani’s website states. “It is not too difficult to imagine a scenario where green hydrogen at a price of less than US$1/kg – coupled with the projected reduction in the cost of combined cycle hydrogen turbines and fuel cells – will not only allow the country to make a transition from fossil fuels, but also free India from the debilitating financial burden of energy imports.”

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Adani New Industries will conduct the fresh capital raising independent of Total, the people said. One of the first projects that the money will be put towards is a 1 million metric tons per annum green hydrogen facility being built in Gujarat, they said. Production from that plant is expected to start in 2027.

A successful project finance close would demonstrate the ports-to-power conglomerate is winning back the support of lenders after corporate fraud allegations levied in late January by Hindenburg Research. While Adani Group strongly denied the accusations, its bonds and shares plunged and most are yet to reach their prior peaks. A court-mandated probe by India’s market regulator is underway to assess if the conglomerate violated any local securities laws. BLOOMBERG