Trump Teams With India's Reliance to Build First New U.S. Refinery in 50 Years

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Reliance Industries Ltd. will finance and build the first new oil refinery on U.S. soil since the 1970s, a project he claims will create "thousands of construction jobs" and add 1 million barrels per day of domestic fuel capacity. The plant, whose location Trump did not disclose, reverses a half-century drought in U.S. refinery construction and delivers a marquee win for an administration that has pledged to expand domestic energy production. Reliance, controlled by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, will supply the estimated $10 billion–$15 billion price tag and keep a majority stake, according to people briefed on the term sheet.

The partnership marks a sharp turn for Reliance, which fought Trump in federal court in 2020 over steel tariffs and lobbied heavily against his earlier visa restrictions. Bloomberg reported that Ambani sent a three-person delegation to Mar-a-Lago last month, offering the refinery as “relationship reset.” Trump, who once called India “the tariff king,” hailed Reliance on Tuesday as “a great friend of America” and hinted the deal could open the door for similar Indian investment in U.S. petrochemicals and renewables.

The federal contribution comes in the form of expedited permitting, not cash. Trump directed the Interior Department to carve out a “priority track” that wraps environmental, tribal and Army Corps reviews into a single 18-month timeline—less than half the historic average. The president also pledged to make the refinery eligible for the existing 45V clean-hydrogen credit if it installs carbon-capture units, a nod to Reliance’s promise that the facility will eventually run on 30 % blue hydrogen. No new subsidies were created, though Trump left open the possibility of tapping the Energy Department’s $25 billion Title XVII loan program once the design is finalized.

North America’s Building Trades Unions president Sean McGarvey issued a statement predicting 60,000 union craft hours during peak construction and 3,500 permanent operating jobs, numbers the White House repeated. The Sierra Club, by contrast, filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue under the Clean Air Act, arguing that another million-barrel refinery “locks in decades of pollution” and undercuts U.S. climate targets. Earthjustice attorney Howard Fox said the fast-track permitting “short-circuits community input” and will be challenged in the D.C. Circuit before ground is broken.

India, which imports 85 % of its crude, secures a downstream foothold in U.S. markets and a hedge against Middle-East supply shocks. Reliance already operates the world’s largest refinery complex in Jamnagar, processing 1.24 million barrels per day. By owning U.S. refining capacity, the company can swap crude cargoes between Atlantic and Pacific basins, trimming freight costs. Trump framed the alliance as strategic, saying a stronger energy link with India “reduces both nations’ dependence on volatile regions.”

Reliance must submit a formal permit application within 90 days, including a site map and crude-supply contracts, according to Interior officials. If permits stay on the 18-month schedule, construction would start in late 2027 and finish by 2031. Reliance has tapped Bechtel as construction manager and is evaluating sites in Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, with a final choice expected this summer.