Reliance building world's largest online-to-offline platform; to benefit 3 crore merchants, says Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday that his company is working on creating the world's largest online-to-offline new commerce platform. This new platform will be created by integrating the power of Reliance Retail's physical marketplace with Jio's digital infrastructure and services, and will take on the likes of Amazon and Flipkart in India. He also said the company is aiming to transform businesses of 3 crore merchants in the country.

Speaking during the Make in Odisha Conclave 2018 in Bhubaneswar, Ambani said since Jio commenced operations over two years ago, India has moved from the 155th rank in mobile broadband penetration to being the number 1 nation in mobile data consumption in the world.

Ambani said his father Dhirubhai Ambani and Biju Patnaik, the father of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, shared a deep and personal friendship. "Both were ahead of their times and inspired millions of Indians that nothing is impossible. Today, Odisha has been growing at 8% per annum, higher than the national average," said the RIL Chairman.

Talking about the company's projects in Odisha, he said Reliance has emerged as one of the largest investors in the state. "Reliance has already invested over Rs 6,000 crore in Odisha. Today, I am committing to investing additional Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years in our businesses in Odisha," he said, adding that the company has created new employment opportunities to over 30,000 people in the state.

"The world is at the cusp of a digital revolution. Everything in the world is going digital, including music, movies, commerce, banking, cars, homes, healthcare, education, etc -- every aspect of life is going digital," said Ambani, adding that newer digital technologies, with artificial intelligence at their core, are rapidly transforming our world like never before.

Talking about his company's expansion in Odisha, he said Jio has connected all cities, towns, and 43,000 villages in Odisha. "In the past eight months, several million villagers in Odisha have got affordable smartphones. Their lives are being digitally transformed and empowered," he said, praising Odisha for the highest per capita data consumption in the country.

He said the company is working with the Odisha government on an initiative to integrate several lakh women in the digital mainstream under the "Mission Shakti" scheme. Its another project in the state, JioGigaFiber, will see a full-scale push in fixed broadband through fiber-to-home network, said Ambani, hoping that India would rise from the present 135th rank to be amongst the top three nations in fixed broadband within the next three years. Besides, the company has partnered with the state government to set up the Reliance Foundation's high-performance athletics centre in the state, which will train local talent under world-renowned experts.

Edited by Manoj Sharma