Google has become the latest high-profile firm to roll back India’s Reliance Jio platform. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Wednesday that the discovery is investing $ 4.5 billion for a 7.73% stake in the top Indian telecom network of the giant.
The investment made by Google is a rare example today when the Android-making company joined its global rival Facebook in support of a firm. Facebook has invested $ 5.7 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms, which has managed to dodge more than 400 million subscribers in less than four years of its existence, with a 9.99% stake in it in April this year. Facebook is the largest minority stakeholder in Jio Platforms.
Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (India’s most valuable company), has raised about $ 20.2 billion from 13 investors in the last four months. (In some context, the entire Indian startup ecosystem raised $ 14.5 billion last year.)
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Google says
Google says it hopes to use its investment in Jio to bring smartphones to more users in India. He points out that the majority of people in the country do not have access to the Internet, and even fewer have smartphones. A partnership with Jio, which reportedly has around 400 million subscribers, could help speed up Google’s efforts.
“Putting technology in the hands of more people is a big part of Google’s mission,” said Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, via video chat on Wednesday. “Together we are excited to rethink, from scratch, how millions of users in India can become smartphone owners. This effort will open up new opportunities, further enhance the vibrant application ecosystem and drive innovation to drive growth in the new Indian economy, ”he said.
The investment in the Indian Internet giant comes as India is trying to reduce its dependence on Chinese companies. Last month, the country banned 59 China-based apps and services, including TikTok and WeChat.
Jio, meanwhile, has made an extraordinary contribution to India’s technological progress in the past decade. Its investments to expand telecommunications infrastructure, low-cost telephones and affordable Internet have changed the way its hundreds of millions of subscribers find news and information, communicate with each other, use services, and run businesses. Today, Jio is increasing his focus on developing areas such as digital services, education, healthcare, and entertainment that can support economic growth and social inclusion at a critical time in the country’s history, “Pichai said.
Reliance Industries, whose core businesses are in petrochemicals, has said in recent months that it plans to include Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail, another subsidiary of the firm, within five years. It is a great week for companies in India. On Tuesday, Walmart led a $ 1.2 billion funding round on Flipkart to increase its majority stake in the 13-year-old Indian e-commerce firm.
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