Congress leader Milind Deora on Wednesday hailed the tie-up between Facebook and Reliance Jio that took place earlier in the day.
“Welcome respite from our daily doom & gloom. Mukesh Ambani always envisioned @reliancejio as a global internet company, not merely an Indian telco. As we consume more & more data, Jio’s partnership with @Facebook could enable India to become a world leader in AI innovation (sic),” he tweeted.
Reliance-owned Jio Platforms and Facebook announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of ₹ 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms. This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at ₹ 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value. Facebook’s investment will translate into a 9.99% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.
Earlier, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote a detailed post on the acquisition. “here's a lot going on in the world right now, but I wanted to share an update on our work in India. 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.
"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 organizations like Jio have played a big part in getting hundreds of millions of Indian people and small businesses online.
This is especially important right now, because small businesses are the core of every economy and they need our support. India has more than 60 million small businesses and millions of people rely on them for jobs. With communities around the world in lockdown, many of these entrepreneurs need digital tools they can rely on to find and communicate with customers and grow their businesses. This is something we can help with -- and that's why we're partnering with Jio to help people and businesses in India create new opportunities.
I want to thank Mukesh Ambani and the entire Jio team for their partnership. We're looking forward to getting started."
