Now Facebook owns 9.9% stake (Rs 43,574 cr.) in Jio Platforms

Reliance Jio is now bigger than big giants; ITC, Infosys, and HDFC in just three years

Facebook announced an investment of USD 5.7 billion to buy 9.9 stacks in Reliance Jio. Now Jio and Facebook will create a new Indian E-commerce platform that is going to be a big rival for Walmart and Amazon.

This is the biggest FDI (Foreign Direct Invest) in the technology segment in India. Facebook will be issued fresh equity as well as now Facebook, will be part of Board Member of Reliance Jio along with Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani.

Both Facebook and Jio said the deal is non Exclusive, which essentially meant that the US firm was free to Partner with other Indian or foreign companies as well.

Jio & Facebook deal will bring together JioMart – the e-commerce venture of Ambani, and Facebook’s WhatsApp platform to connect consumers with neighborhood Kirana stores.

”In the future, JioMart and WhatsApp will empower nearly three crores small Indian Kirana stores. So  Kirana Store can digitally  connected with every customer in their neighborhood

This means all of us can order our day-to-day items  and get faster delivery than Amazon from nearby local shops, that means you will get your order in few hours. At the same time, small Kiran store can grow their business and create new employment opportunities using advanced digital technologies.

On the other hand, this deal would give Facebook deeper access to India, the second-largest Internet market after China, and having good telecom partner will help FB to reach to the masses.

WhatsApp has over 400 million users in India while Jio has 388+ million subscribers. Facebook has about 250 million users in India. This is Facebook’s biggest stake since its 2014 acquisition.

From the JIO perspective, it could leverage Facebook technology expertise and talent pool as well as help in its ambitions to make Jio a Digital Company.

RIL  & WhatsApp are also into a commercial partnership that further accelerates Reliance’s new e-commerce business on the Jio mart platform using what’s app and to support small business on WhatsApp.

 

About Author – This article is originally published in TANx by Tanay Singh ( Author, Entrepreneur, Researcher, Digital Marketer)