Facebook Buys Stake Worth $5.7B In Indian Carrier Jio

Today, Facebook announced that the company has invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, part of the wider portfolio of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries. According to a blog post by the social media, the major reason behind the deal that made Facebook the largest minority shareholder is to combine JioMart and WhatsApp powers to “enable people to connect with businesses, shop and ultimately purchase products in a seamless mobile experience”.




Having an IM platform go beyond its chat capabilities is no news in the mobile world. The Chinese giant Tencent is the owner of WeChat - a massive platform that allows over a billion users to communicate, purchase online, or even make offline payments.

"Reliance Industries Limited, Jio Platforms Limited and Facebook, Inc. today announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms,"
RIL said in a statement on Wednesday.

Facebook investing in the Indian market is no surprise - WhatsApp currently has over 400 million users in the country. David Fischer, Chief Revenue Officer, and Ajit Mohan, VP and Managing Director in India, revealed some numbers - in less than four years, Jio has brought more than 388 million people online, and in just the past five years over half a billion of people have gained access to the internet.