What Sundar Pichai And Mukesh Ambani Said About Rs 33,737 Crore Google-Jio Deal

Edited by Abhik Deb

15 Jul 2020, 03:42 PM IST

Google will buy 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 33,737 crore

Reliance Industry Limited's (RIL) on Wednesday bagged another big ticket investment when the company's Chairman an Managing Director (CMD) Mukesh Ambani announced that technology giant Google will buy 7.7 per cent stake in the conglomerate's telecom arm Jio Platforms for Rs 33,737 crore. Both Mr Ambani and Google and its parent company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai spoke about the aim of the partnership.

Speaking at RIL's 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM), Mr Ambani said, "We welcome Google onboard and are excited about our partnership for what it can deliver to Indians, from universalising Internet usage to deepening the new digital economy and providing a prime mover to India's economic growth.

He also said that the partnership hopes to play a strong role towards the building of Digital India.

Google's India-born top boss Mr Pichai said that Reliance and Jio Platforms deserve "a good deal of credit for India's digital transformation."

"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," he also said.

Mr Ambani said that the investment from Google marks the end of a series of fund raising by Jio Platforms, that was kick started with a Rs 43,573.62 crore investment by Facebook in April, this year. Including the Facebook investment, Jio Platforms has clinched funds worth more than Rs 1.52 lakh crore through 14 deals.