Reliance Jio-Facebook Deal: Industrialist Anand Mahindra congratulated Mukesh Ambani.
Facebook's $5.7 billion investment in Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio "is a strong signal of India's economic importance" after the coronavirus crisis is over, industrialist Anand Mahindra said. He congratulated Mukesh Ambani for winning the mega deal from the social media giant.
"Jio's deal with Facebook is good not just for the two of them. Coming as it does during the virus-crisis, it is a strong signal of India's economic importance post the crisis. It strengthens hypotheses that the world will pivot to India as a new growth epicentre. Bravo Mukesh!" Anand Mahindra tweeted.
In one of the biggest foreign investments in India, Facebook has taken a $5.7 billion stake in the Jio digital platforms, the companies said on Wednesday.
The deal will give the Facebook a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, part of Mukesh Ambani's oil-to-telecoms Reliance Industries empire. Announcing the deal, Facebook said it wanted to connect the "power of WhatsApp", its messaging subsidiary, with Reliance Jio, which has sought to increase its digital business on the back of a massively successful telecom venture.
"Facebook is teaming up with Jio Platforms - we're making a financial investment, and more than that, we're committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote on the social media platform.
"India is home to the largest communities on Facebook and WhatsApp, and a lot of talented entrepreneurs. The country is in the middle of a major digital transformation and organisations like Jio have played a big part in getting hundreds of millions of Indians, small businesses online," he added.
Mukesh Ambani said the Facebook-Reliance Jio parternship will help make India one of the world's leading digital societies. "At the core of our partnership is the commitment Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and I share for the all-round digital transformation of India and for serving all Indians," Mr Ambani was quoted by news agency ANI.
India is Facebook's largest market with some 400 million users.