Mukesh Ambani News / Jio was the biggest risk of Ambani's life, he had put billions of his own dollars at stake

Veteran industrialist Mukesh Ambani called Jio the biggest risk and philanthropic act he has ever taken. Jio was expected to be a financial failure when it was launched in 2016, but Ambani invested in it keeping in mind the future of digital India. Jio brought about a revolution by making the internet cheap and accessible.

Mukesh Ambani News: Veteran industrialist and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani has called the launch of Reliance Jio in 2016 the "biggest risk" of his life. He admitted that even if Jio failed financially at that time, it was still a meaningful and necessary step in terms of the country's digital transformation. In an interview with McKinsey & Company, Ambani shared the thinking behind this historic decision.

"Even if it failed, it was right": Ambani

Ambani said that Reliance Industries had invested billions of dollars in the development of 4G network from its own resources, while many experts believed that India was not ready for such advanced digital technology at that time. He said, "I clearly told my board that even if we do not get any profit on this, it will still be the biggest philanthropic work for us in India."

Jio: Which made the Internet a common man's right

When Jio was launched in 2016, it brought a stir in the Indian telecom industry. Free voice calls and extremely cheap data plans pulled consumers into the world of digital services. This forced competitors to reduce their tariffs and data prices in India became the cheapest in the world.

Jio became the backbone of Digital India

Today, India has more than 80 crore internet users due to Jio, making India one of the largest online markets in the world. Jio played an important role in the direction of digital inclusion, which brought services like e-commerce, fintech, ed-tech and OTT platforms to rural areas.

"Always took risks, because the thinking was big": Ambani

Mukesh Ambani said that the culture of Reliance has always been to take big risks. "We have always emphasized on comprehensiveness. Jio was the biggest risk till date, but it also brought the biggest change." He told that at that time he was the largest shareholder of the company and the decision was completely his.

Jio: Now a digital powerhouse

Today, Jio is not only the country's largest telecom operator, but it is also expanding in 5G, cloud computing and artificial intelligence services. It has more than 47 crore customers. Ambani says, "In the end, we leave this world empty-handed, but the institution we leave behind is our legacy."