[Deep Dive] Reliance Jio’s Digital Empire And How It Stacks Up Against The Competition

In 2016, a few months before the demonetisation, Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani unveiled Reliance Jio to the public with free voice calls and 1GB of 4G high-speed data per day for just INR 300 (less than $5) per month. While demonetisation gave a huge push to cashless economy and online payments, Jio turned out to be a revolutionary service and catapulted India into the digital future.

Today, Reliance Jio has nearly 400 Mn subscribers to itself, and overall India has over 504 Mn active internet users. No wonder, India’s internet growth story is accredited to Jio. While not all Jio subscribers might be active internet users, Jio Platforms owns a major chunk of the market.

But beyond being a digital enabler, Jio Platforms, which Ambani claims is a startup, has raised a total of INR 1,52,056 Cr from leading investors like Facebook, Silver Lake, General Atlantic, KKR, TPG Capital, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Mubadala Investment Company, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, L Catterton, Vista Equity Partner and Intel Capital in the past three and a half months.

Jio Profits As Digital India Plan Comes Together

Beyond the capital, the investments are a testament to the digital ecosystem created by Jio — with over a dozen services and more being added, fulfilling the entertainment, communication and internet services needs of households across the country.