Google said it will invest 337.4 billion Indian rupees ($4.5bn/Dh16.5bn) for a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Reliance Industries.
The US technology company joins several other companies that invested in Jio Platforms, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Facebook, Intel Capital, KKR, TPG, General Atlantic, Silver Lake Capital and Vista Equity Partners.
US chip maker Qualcomm also bought a 0.15 per cent share in Jio Platforms for 7.3bn rupees earlier this week.
"We welcome Google onboard and are excited about our partnership for what it can deliver to Indians, from universalising internet usage to deepening the new digital economy and providing a prime mover to India's economic growth," Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Reliance Industries is India’s largest private sector company, with a consolidated turnover of $87.1bn and a net profit of $5.3bn for the year ended March 2020.
It built Jio Platforms, which houses movie streaming, music apps and telecoms venture Jio Infocomm, over the past four years.
The platform has 388 million subscribers and Reliance Industries intends to use technology to create a "digital India" by offering cheaper online services to the country’s 1.3 billion people.
The Public Investment Fund invested about $1.5bn in Jio for a 2.32 per cent stake last month. Adia invested $753.4m for a 1.16 per cent stake while Mubadala invested $1.2bn for a 1.85 per cent stake.
The total investment of financial and strategic investors in Jio Platforms stands at 1.5 trillion rupees after Google's investment, Mr Ambani told the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.
“Reliance is truly a zero net debt company, well ahead of my goal of March 2021,” he said.
“We now have an extremely strong balance sheet that will support all our hyper growth plans for our three businesses, that is, Jio, retail and O2C [oil-to-chemicals]. Our target for our capital raise is now complete.”
Google’s chief executive Sundar Pichai said “the pace and scale of digital transformation in India is hugely inspiring ... and reinforces our view that building products for India first helps us build better products for users everywhere”.
“Our joint collaboration will focus on increasing access for hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t currently own a smartphone while improving the mobile experience for all,” he said.
Google said earlier this week that it is investing $10bn in India in the next five to seven years to hasten the development of its digital economy.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
If you go
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.
Cherry
Directed by: Joe and Anthony Russo
Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo
1/5
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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