{"text":[[{"start":19.64,"text":"A Texas refinery trumpeted by Donald Trump as a “historic $300bn deal” will involve a modest initial outlay of around $40mn by Reliance Industries, according to two people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":36.379999999999995,"text":"The project in Brownsville, Texas, is intended to be the first new refinery in the US for 50 years. But more than three weeks after Trump thanked Reliance for its “tremendous investment”, India’s largest company has made no public announcement."}],[{"start":53.959999999999994,"text":"The reason, according to those in India familiar with the project’s details, is that Reliance’s initial investment will be only a fraction of Trump’s headline figure and does not reach the hurdle for a stock exchange notification."}],[{"start":69.05999999999999,"text":"Reliance Industries said it could not provide specifics because of strict confidentiality agreements. It added: “Reliance group has investment and will be involved in various aspects of the Brownsville Refinery.”"}],[{"start":85.1,"text":"Trump unveiled the project from a little-known company called America First Refining on Truth Social in March. AFR said it had “received a 9-figure investment from a global supermajor at a 10-figure valuation”."}],[{"start":100.58999999999999,"text":"AFR later confirmed this was Reliance, chaired by Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man. It did not specify how much the Indian group would invest in a refinery that would cost up to $4bn to build. "}],[{"start":115.63999999999999,"text":"AFR said it also signed a “binding 20-year offtake term sheet with the same global supermajor”. Its $300bn figure is based on a calculation that the refinery will buy $125bn of shale oil and sell $175bn of refined product."}],[{"start":136.58999999999997,"text":"Asked if Trump had inflated the role of Reliance Industries, a White House spokesperson said the refinery was backed by a “historic foreign investment commitment” that would further unleash American energy dominance. "}],[{"start":152.07999999999998,"text":"Danielle Alvarez, spokesperson for AFR, said the company stands “behind every statement . . . including investment and $300bn value of the transaction”."}],[{"start":164.91,"text":"Trump’s announcement came a few weeks after his administration agreed to a delayed interim trade agreement with the government of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "}],[{"start":176.25,"text":"The US president said New Delhi had promised to stop buying discounted Russian oil — halting a $6bn windfall for Reliance from refining discounted Russian crude since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — a measure Washington later partially reversed due to the US-Israeli war on Iran. "}],[{"start":197.7,"text":"Since Trump took office in January last year, Ambani has sought to strengthen ties, spending $240,000 on lobbying in the US in 2025, according to Senate disclosures. "}],[{"start":212.04,"text":"The Ambanis have had a longstanding relationship with the Trumps. Last year, Donald Trump Jr visited Reliance’s refinery in western India and spent time with one of Ambani’s sons, Anant, at their huge private zoo."}],[{"start":228.07999999999998,"text":"Trump’s son Eric has said he is working on “several” hotels in India and a company connected to Ambani paid a $10mn “development fee” to the Trump Organization. "}],[{"start":240.61999999999998,"text":"Reliance has “spent a lot of time and resources getting on Trump’s good books. India has taken a lot of time and resources getting on Trump’s good books as far as a trade deal is concerned,” said Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University."}],[{"start":259.56,"text":"“Publicly correcting Trump could constitute a diplomatic incident — embarrassing both Trump and the Modi government,” he added. "}],[{"start":279.34,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775717623_5833.mp3"}