(Bloomberg) -- Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., India's largest wireless carrier, announced that its mobile plans will cost at least 20% more, a week after rivals announced tariff hikes and signaled the easing of a cut-throat price war in the sector.
The operator, which is controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd., plans to implement these new tariffs from Dec. 1, Jio said in a statement late Sunday. “These plans will provide the best value in the industry,” it said in the statement.
The sector-wide hike in tariffs underscores that the bruising price war since Jio's entry in 2016 is phasing out and will reduce financial stress for the smaller rivals, Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd., which undertook similar price raises last week. With smaller operators either shutting operations or going bankrupt in the past five years, the surviving three private sector carriers have seen a return of pricing power.
Reliance Industries's shares advanced as much as 3.6% on Monday during Mumbai trading, pushing this year's jump to almost 25%. S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 0.4% by comparison on Monday.
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