Mukesh Ambani on Facebook-Jio deal: WhatsApp, JioMart plan to bring local kirana store online
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd and Mark Zuckerberg-founded Facebook on Wednesday announced that the US tech giant will buy a 9.99 per cent stake for $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) in India's oil-retail-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) led Jio Platforms.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd and Mark Zuckerberg-founded Facebook on Wednesday announced that the US tech giant will buy a 9.99 per cent stake for $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) in India's oil-retail-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) led Jio Platforms. With tech giant Facebook picking up a nearly 10 per stake in Jio platforms, Mukesh Ambani said this partnership will prove to be a catalyst to make India one of the world’s leading digital societies. With tech giant Facebook picking up a nearly 10 per stake in Jio platforms, Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday said this partnership will prove to be a catalyst to make India one of the world’s leading digital societies.
RIL chairman and managing director and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani said: "the synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' Mission with its two ambitious goals -- 'Ease of Living' and 'Ease of Doing Business' -- for every single category of Indian people without exception".
In a video statement, Ambani said he is delighted to welcome Facebook as a long-term partner and said the two companies will together accelerate India’s digital transformation to empower, enable and enrich people.
“At the core of the partnership is the commitment that Mark Zuckerberg and I share for the all-around digital transformation of India and for serving all Indians.”
The digital transformation of India's neighbourhood grocers or 'kirana' stores occupies a central role in the early outcomes expected from the Facebook-Jio deal.
"Concurrent" with the latest development, RIL's statement confirmed that Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail and WhatsApp are working together to turbocharge Reliance Retail's JioMart platform connecting 'kirana' shops to customers, enabling home delivery over Jio's mobile interface.
Facebook-Jio deal is the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world and the largest FDI in the Indian tech sector, according to an RIL.
RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s full statement on the Facebook-Jio deal:
My fellow Indians, namaskar.
I trust that all of you are safe and well.
I am here to share with you some exciting news today. All of us at Reliance and Jio are delighted to welcome Facebook Inc. as our long-term and esteemed partner.
At the core of our partnership is the commitment that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and I share for the all-round digital transformation of India and for serving all Indians. Together, our two companies will accelerate India's digital economic to empower you to enable you and to enrich you.
Our partnership will be a great catalyst to make India the world's leading digital society.
Over the past few years, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram have become household names in India. WhatsApp, in particular, has entered our people's daily vocabulary in all the 23 official languages of India. WhatsApp is not just a digital application. It has become aapka aur hum sabka pyara dost - a friend, who brings together families, friends, businesses, information seekers and providers.
The combined power of Jio's world-class digital connectivity platform and Facebook's intimate relationship with the Indian people will offer innovative new solutions to each one of you in the very near future. JioMart, Jio's digital new commerce platform and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items from nearby local shops.
At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities using digital technology. And in the days to come, this winning recipe will be extended to serve other key stake holders of Indian society. Our kisans, our small and medium enterprises, our students and teachers, our healthcare providers and above all our women and youth who form the foundation of a new India.
Our visionary and most respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has set two ambitious goals in his digital India mission. 'Ease of living' for all Indians, especially for the common Indians, and 'Ease of Doing Business' for all entrepreneurs, especially for small entrepreneurs. Today, I assure you that the synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise these goals.
Finally, I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you good health and safety in the current and extraordinary situation in India and around the world. We are all in this together, and together we will overcome this pandemic. Corona haarega India jeetega. With our collective efforts, India will surely emerge stronger, healthier and better. Thank you and Jai Hind.