Google injects $4.5bn into India’s Reliance Jio unit
Google has become the latest technology giant to invest in Reliance’s digital unit Jio Platforms, putting up $4.5bn in exchange for a 7.7 per cent stake.
Reliance has now gained a total of $20.2bn from strategic and financial investors in the last few months — surpassing the $15.4bn that the entire Indian startup sector took in last year.
Google’s latest investment gives Jio a valuation of $58bn.
The digital unit manages music and movie apps, but its mainstay is telecoms firm Jio Infocomm — India’s largest mobile carrier, which is also developing 5G equipment to rival the likes of Huawei.
The venture arms of chipmakers Qualcomm and Intel have also bought stakes in Jio this month, while Facebook took a 9.9 per cent stake in exchange for a $5.7bn injection in April.
The Jio investment from Google comes just days after its chief executive Sundar Pichai said Google would invest $10bn in India over the next five to seven years through equity deals and tie-ups.
The stake marks the first investment from the Google For India Digitisation Fund.
As part of the deal, Google and Jio will work on a customised version of its Android operating system to develop low-cost smartphones for Indian users.
Reliance, which is India’s most highly-valued company run by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has now sold nearly 33 per cent of Jio Platforms.
“Through this partnership with Jio Platforms we see the chance to have an even greater impact than either company could have alone,” Pichai said in a video message.
He added that the Jio investment was “the first and the biggest” investment Google would make via the digitisation fund.
“As we end our current cycle of capital raising, we are delighted to welcome another strategic partner into Jio,” said Ambani.