Facebook Invests $5.7 billion in India’s Jio Platforms

The investment by Facebook in Jio Platforms will bring together JioMart and WhatsApp, facilitating small businesses to grow digitally.

Facebook has announced a $5.7 billion, or INR 43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms Limited, part of Reliance Industries Limited, making Facebook its largest minority shareholder. The investment underscores Facebook's commitment to India, the company states.

The media giant hopes for the move to help small business owners get online. To do so, they will be bringing together JioMart, Jio’s small business initiative, and WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messaging service. With this, they hope to enable people to connect with businesses, shop and purchase products in a seamless mobile experience.

One of the case scenarios highlighted by Facebook in its announcement is about a family business based out of Delhi. In operations since 1969, Kabir family's textile factory has recently started using Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to reach new customers, the company says.

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"Facebook is teaming up with Jio Platforms — we're making a financial investment, and more than that, we're committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India," announced CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He further thanked Mukesh Ambani and the Jio team for their partnership.

Zuckerberg also highlighted the importance of digital tools for entrepreneurs to communicate with customers and grow their business, especially in the current lockdown. He expressed hope for the move to help them do so, creating new opportunities.