Reliance Industries will make an investment of Rs. 2.5 lakh crores in the digital sector. Apart from this, the company also announced of establishing a distribution network of 1.5 lakhs electronic retailers. These retailers will be selling cellphones, internet devices, etc. and will also provide other related services.
Devices are always sold by independent companies in India. Telecom companies have never sold devices except for simple CDMA phones and internet dongles. This is the first time that Reliance Industries is introducing this in the country.
Reliance Jio will follow the US-type model. This will let the company boost the usage of 4G devices and promote its own long-term evolution (LTE) services.
Investments by Reliance Industries
Reliance Industries will make the maximum investment under the name of its telecom arm, Reliance Jio Infocomm. The investment includes manufacturing of devices and setting up the infrastructure for wireless internet services. The huge investments will lead to an employment generation of around 5 lakhs.
The Chairman, Mukesh Ambani informed that Reliance Industries will make the investment and align its activities with central and state governments for smart cities development and digitization in governance, healthcare, rural services and education sectors.
Reliance Jio has already made an investment amounting to Rs. 75,000 crores for its telecom infrastructure. It is negotiating with leading device makers for manufacturing smartphones at low prices which will then be sold in Reliance Industries’ retail outlets. The pan-India electronic stores of Reliance Industries are known as Reliance Digital and Reliance Digital Express.
The company will come up with a Jio Digital India Start-Up Fund, too. This will assist young entrepreneurs to set up digital businesses in many towns and cities. The company is also setting up all IP Next-Generation, wireless broadband infrastructure in all the states of the country. It will be rolling out its telecom and broadband services, this year.
Impact of Reliance Jio’s activities
Reliance Jio’s upcoming launch has already left an impact on the share prices of other major telecom companies. Many experts have predicted that only a couple of telecom companies will sustain the aggressive competition once Reliance Jio establishes itself.
‘Digital India Week’ launch
The ‘Digital India Week’ launch was attended by many prominent CEOs of leading companies. Ambani announced his investment plans, there. Others also committed their respective investments. The initiative will receive a total investment of Rs. 4.5 lakh crores. Around 55% of this will be contributed by Reliance Industries, alone. The initiative will open up job opportunities for 18 lakh people.
Ambani believes that digitization will transform the way of life. At the launch, he said that the ‘Digital India’ initiative will touch and transform the lives of all 1.2 billion Indians.
Investments by other companies
CEO of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Mittal promised investment of Rs, 1 lakh crore; Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla committed around Rs. 54,000 crores; Chairman of Vedanta Resources Plc., Anil Agarwal will invest Rs. 40,000 crores and Chairman of Reliance Group, Anil Ambani committed Rs. 10,000 crore of investment.
Summary
Reliance will establish a strong distribution network of 1.5 lakh retailers to sell mobile &smart devices across India.