Kolkata: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has lined up over Rs 10,000 crore as fresh investments in West Bengal to expand operations, its Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Thursday.
“Our investments in West Bengal today stand at Rs 28,000 crore. This accounts for about one-tenth of our total investments in India so far. Now, we have firmed up our plan for a further investment of over Rs 10,000 crore,” he said at the 5th Bengal Global Business Summit here.
“This plan is already under implementation,” he added. “Reliance has become the largest investor in the digital space and will make the state land of a digital revolution,” he said.
Ambani said West Bengal is poised to be a leader in the 4th industrial revolution, and RIL will be its trusted partner in helping the state embrace the full-blown power of digital revolution.
“Jio is in advanced stages of setting up its data centre in the state, which will be on par with comparable centres in the Silicon Valley.” Jio, he said, is also preparing to shortly roll out it’s much awaited high-speed fibre to the home broadband services under the GigE fibre brand banner.
“This will transform all homes in West Bengal into smart homes. 100 per cent of the state’s population would be covered by the Jio 4G network by end-2019,” he said. Jio will also establish 1,000-odd Jio points across rural Bengal to undertake direct distribution of Jio services and boost 4G penetration in the state’s villages.
Ambani said Reliance Retail operates over 500 retail outlets and 46 petrol retail outlets spread across one million square feet across 400 cities and towns of West Bengal. Jio and Reliance Retail, he said, will shortly launch a unique new commerce platform which will bring win-win benefits to consumers, retailers, and producers.
“Across the country, this platform will enrich and empower as many as three crore small shopkeepers,” said Ambani.
Besides, Reliance operates nearly three million square feet of warehouses in West Bengal. “With our new commerce initiative, this will increase manifold in the next 24 months,” said the Reliance Chairman.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]