Reliance Industries is investing Rs. 5,000 crore in West Bengal for Jio and its entire digital eco-system, retail and petro-retail in the next few years.
Reliance Industries has already invested Rs. 15,000 crore in West Bengal and with second instalment of investment the total comes around Rs. 20,000 crore.
Today, West Bengal is the fourth largest state economy in India, growing at 15.64% GVA this is much higher than the national average and so investments in infrastructure have been unprecedented.
“I had the privilege of attending the Second Biswa Bangla summit in 2016. At that time we were new to Bengal and Reliance committed an investment of Rs. 4,500 crore in West Bengal. We have invested not just the committed Rs. 4,500 crore but nearly triple that amount Rs. 15,000 crore in Bengal. We could make this large investment only because West Bengal have created a friendly climate and an enabling policy infrastructure. Today, in just two short years, Reliance has emerged as one of the largest investors in Bengal. Moreover, Bengal is amongst our largest investments in the country,” said Mukesh Ambani, CMD, Reliance Industries at Bengal Global Business Summit 2018.
Our investment philosophy has a clear goal ─ to empower everyone in the march of development, especially those who have been left behind commented Mukesh Ambani.
“Most of our investments are in creating the Jio network. For Reliance, Jio is not just another business. It is a mission to transform India ─ to transform Bengal. Jio will give seamless, high-quality digital connectivity, unmatched anywhere else in the world. Reliance’s investments have trebled employment opportunities in Bengal in just two years. Jio initiatives have delivered sustained new employment opportunities ─ both direct and indirect ─ to over 100,000 people in the state. And I am grateful to the people of West Bengal who have adopted Jio as their own,” added Ambani.
Out of a population of 9 crore people, West Bangal contributes around 1.2 crore Jio customers. Jio has facilitated the spread of education by connecting over 200 universities and premier institutions across the state. Jio has enabled healthcare too, covering more than 100 hospitals, including all the major ones in Kolkata and the districts.
Jio network in West Bengal covers 1,000 towns and nearly 39,000 villages in the state thereby covering 98% of Bengal’s population and plans are to reach 100% of population before the end of 2018. Jio is also embarking on an ambitious project of connect West Bengal with optic fibre which will bring superior digital services to every home.
Within the next two years, Jio will connect every single educational institution and every single hospital in Bengal.
Reliance is also setting up Digital Service Centres across India to bring Government to Citizen (G2C) services within easy reach of every citizen, particularly in the rural hinterland. With the support of the state government, the scheme will be launched in five districts of West Bengal with immediate effect. It will give birth to digital entrepreneurs, kick-start e-commerce, support agriculture, as well as small and medium enterprises in both Rural and Urban Bengal.
Reliance is also working with multiple partners to explore setting up next generation state-of-the-art electronics manufacturing facilities and make West Bengal the hub for innovation and hi-tech technologies for consumer devices such as mobile phones, set-top boxes and other devices.
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