Google will be investing about 4.5 billion dollars in India’s Jio Platforms, the mobile digital arm of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced on Wednesday.
“Google would make the investment of about 4.5 billion dollars by picking up a 7.7 per-cent stake in Jio Platforms,’’ Ambani said.
Ambani, howeve, said that the U.S.-based company’s move would be subject to necessary regulatory permissions
He addressed shareholders at a virtual annual general meeting of RIL, India’s biggest conglomerate.
Ambani said that RIL was the first Indian company to cross market capitalisation of 150 billion dollars with investments in Jio Platforms.
Other companies that have equity in the firm include Facebook, Qualcomm, Intel, TPG and Abu Dhabi Investments.
“What they bring is more than money. They bring a strong vote of confidence in our bold mission and our ability to execute,” Ambani said.
Jio Platforms’ fully-owned subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., provides mobile telephone services to 388 million users, which is about 31 per cent of market share.
Jio has also developed a 5G solution from scratch, which is likely to be ready for roll-out in 2021 once the spectrum required is made available by the government.
“Once it is proven in India, Jio Platforms would be well-positioned to be an exporter of 5G solutions to other telecom operators globally,’’ Ambani said.
