Reliance Jio Chairman Mukesh Ambani has confirmed that Google will invest $4.5 billion into the company’s digital business. In today’s annual general meeting, Ambani said that the search giant would acquire a 7.7% stake in the company, following a similar $5.7 billion investment by Facebook.
The investment would be Google’s largest investment in a company outside the United States. News of the investment come only a day after the Search Giant pledged to invest $10 billion in India’s Digitization, with focus on enabling more high-quality, low-cost smartphones to give internet access to more Indian users.
An earlier report by Bloomberg says that the investment will boost Reliance Jio’s push for content streaming, online retail, and digital payments.
Speaking to Bloomberg, tech-consultant Chetan Sharma said the investment is geared at taking advantage of cloud computing. Further, the move would put Google at par with other silicon valley investors who continue to show interest in India’s market.
Is Reliance Jio the Gateway to India’s Tech Market?
In the past three months, Jio Platforms Limited has received $15.58 billion in investment for 25% of its stake. Some of the high-profile investors include Facebook, KKR and Vista. So far, Facebook has made the most significant investment with the recent $5.7 billion, with plans to digitise 60 million of the country’s small businesses.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio has received a lot of attention from big technology companies globally, who see it as the perfect entry point to tap into India’s internet market. The country’s leading telco boasts over 400 million users, which would offer google a platform to boost its mobile payment services Google Pay.