Reliance Jio, Google forge partnership to develop entry level, affordable smartphones

At Reliance Industries Limited's Virtual, 43^rd Annual General Meeting (Post-IPO)  announcements on July 15th, Chairman and MD, Mukesh Ambani has confirmed that Jio Platforms Limited and Google LLC  have signed binding agreements for an investment of ₹33,737 crores by Google into Jio Platforms.

This investment by Google values Jio Platforms at an equity value of ₹ 4.36 lakh crore. Google’s investment will translate into a 7.73% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this, the total investment from financial and strategic investors into Jio Platforms stands at ₹ 1,52,056 crore.

The investment will build on Jio’s and Google’s existing efforts to expand the benefits of digitization across the length and breadth of India, beyond the current 500+ million Internet users in the country.

Jio Platforms and Google have also entered into a commercial agreement to jointly develop an entry-level affordable smartphone with optimizations to the Android operating system and the Play Store.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, "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."

“Google has empowered millions of Indians to access helpful information and, like Jio, is a force for change and innovation. We welcome Google onboard and are excited about our partnership for what it can deliver to Indians, from universalizing Internet usage to deepening the new digital economy and providing a prime mover to India’s economic growth. Together, we hope to play a strong facilitative role in the transformative journey of building a new, Digital India," said Ambani.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said, “Reliance Industries, and Jio Platforms in particular, deserve a good deal of credit for India’s digital transformation. The pace and scale of digital transformation in India is hugely inspiring for us and reinforces our view that building products for India first helps us build better products for users everywhere. Google is proud to invest ₹ 33,737 crores into 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.”