Reliance Jio Bags $4.5 Billion Investment from Google

It seems that all the shining stars are in the favour of Mr. Mukesh Ambani as Reliance Jio bags $5.5 billion investment from Google. The move came at a time when one of the biggest arch-rivals of Google, Facebook has also purchased 9.9% of its shares at a whopping amount of Rs 43,574 crore. With this, the search giant now will own a stake of 7.73% in the biggest telecom operator in India.

The announcement was made by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani at the 43rd Reliance AGM meeting which was held today virtually for the first time due to Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement issued by RIL, it was said that Jio Platforms Limited, which is a subsidiary of the Company, signed binding agreements with search giant Google International LLC today, for which Google would invest Rs 33,737 crore and will own 7.73% equity stake in Jio Platforms.

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With this, RIL has now sold 33% of its stake in Jio Platforms to raise about $20.2 billion in just a period of four months to 13 investors. These big names include Facebook, Intel Capital, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Vista Equity Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, General Atlantic, Silver Lake, TPG, Mubadala Investment Company, KKR, Public Investment Fund (PIF) and L Catterton.

In the AGM Ambani said, “Google is proud to invest Rs 33,737 crore into Reliance Jio. I am excited that our joint collaboration will focus on increasing access for hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t currently own a smartphone while improving the mobile experience for all.”

Reliance Jio and Google together will work to develop low-cost, entry-level smartphones which would be the customized-version of Android operating system that will serve the next hundreds of millions of users throughout the country.

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Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive Officer at Google said via video conferencing that getting technology into the hand of more people is a big part of Google’s mission. Together we are excited to rethink, from the ground up, how millions of users in India can become owners of smartphones. This effort will unlock new opportunities, further power the vibrant ecosystem of applications and push innovation to drive growth for the new Indian economy.

Reliance Jio has become a gateway for companies to penetrate the Indian market via accessing a large number of users who all are connected to Jio network.