Mukesh Ambani Sets Up Estonian JV For E-Governance; Takes Up E-Residency 

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani is keen on the e-governance space and has set up a subsidiary company in Estonia to get a grip on the solutions, government officials of the Northwestern European nation have said.

Ambani has formed a joint venture with the Estonian government's former chief information officer Taavi Kotka.

The joint venture will look for solutions in the e-governance space, said Viljar Lubi, the vice-minister for economic affairs and communications of Estonia, which is a European Union member.

He, however, did not elaborate on the exact scope of the partnership, saying government only plays the role of a facilitator.

A Reliance Industries Ltd. spokesperson refused to share details of the project.

Multiple officials in Estonia, which is among the most digitised countries in the world, maintained that the role of private companies has been crucial in developing the digital infrastructure used by all most all of its citizens.

The country claims of 99 percent of digital penetration.

Ambani, took an e-residency of the European nation in May this year, the officials said.

An e-residency helps a foreigner access the EU opportunity by helping him/her form a company, among other benefits.

"We've one of the founders of e-residency programme, Kotka, who is currently working together with Reliance and Mukesh Ambani to digitalise India in terms of accessing digital identity. That is why Ambani became an e-resident recently," a spokesperson for Estonia's e-residency programme said.

An email sent to Reliance Industries spokesperson on this aspect was also not answered. There are just about 2,000 Indians who have opted to become e-residents of Estonia so far, primarily to access the business opportunity presented by the European Union.

Asked if Ambani has visited Estonia, Lubi declined to comment, but named other Indian industrialists like Infosys Ltd. co-founder NR Narayana Murthy as among those who have visited their country to have a closer look at the work on digitisation.