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Why Facebook – And Everyone Else – Is Investing Billions In India’s Jio Platform

In April, Facebook announced it had invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, India's largest mobile telecom provider. This gave the social media giant a 9.9% stake in the company and provided the Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerburg, direct access to Jio's 370 million subscribers. Over the last six weeks, investments totaling almost $13 billion have been put into Jio Platforms, causing a frenzy around the Indian service provider.

A subsidiary of Reliance Industries, which has a core business in oil refining and petrochemicals, making it the most valued firm in India, Jio Platforms was established in 2019 by Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani. Notably, Reliance's core business was hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, with its first quarter net profit falling by 37%.

Jio isn't just a telecommunications company but also has an ecosystem of apps, offering millions of mobile users a range of services spanning online grocery shopping, digital payments, and video streaming.

Facebook is just one of many investors. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has invested $753 million for a 1.16% stake. Meanwhile, the company has secured $1.5 billion from U.S. private equity giant KKR, which has invested in several high-profile tech companies, including TikTok owner ByteDance, GoJek, Lyft, and Epic Games.

Private equity giant Silverlake has invested $750 million, Vista Equity Partners picked up a 2.32% stake with $1.5 billion, and on May 17th General Atlantic Partners bought a 1.34% stake for $870 million.

More recently, it was announced that TPG is in active discussions with Jio. TPG is an investor in several top global technology disruptors such as Uber, AirBnB,, and SurveyMonkey. The deal is expected to be between $1 to $1.2 billion, though it could be as high as $1.5 billion.

Reports also now suggest that Google and Microsoft are looking to invest in Jio Platforms.

These mammoth deals are set to help Jio achieve its goal of becoming debt-free by March 2021, allowing it to develop new products. Currently, it has been reported that the company is already working with Facebook to create a suite of applications. There is also talk that some of the investment will be used to develop its own 5G ecosystem in India.

Following Mubdala's stake in the company, Jio is valued at $65 million, though that's expected to grow with forthcoming deals.