After a few rumors, finally, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has confirmed that search giant Google is investing $4.5 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms for a 7.73% stake.
Jio Platforms has raised over $20.6 billion in the past four months from 13 investors. The current investment gives Jio Platforms an equity valuation of $58 billion. Facebook also invested $5.7 billion in April this year for a 9.99% stake. Other notable investors include Silverlake, KKR, TPG, Intel, and Qualcomm.
Now when Reliance is completely debt-free, the company will only be accepting strategic investments.
Google and Jio will work on a customized version of the Android operating system for low-cost entry-level 5G smartphones for the Indian market. These phones will also support Google Play. Ambani also aims to make India 2G-mukt (2G free).
Jio Platforms has several apps including JioCinema, JioNews, JioCloud, JioSecurity, JioMeet, JioSaavn, JiTV and JioBrowser. Now the company could the raised funds to improve the existing apps and invest in 4G infra.
It is also worth noting that Google recently promised to invest $10 billion in India over the next five to seven years.
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