Google is in “advanced talks” to buy a $4 billion stake in the Jio digital platforms business of India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, as major tech firms race to tap into the massive nation’s market.
The US technology giant has been in talks to invest in Jio Platforms, part of Ambani’s oil-to-telecoms Reliance Industries empire, Bloomberg said citing sources, with an announcement “as soon as in the next few weeks”.
The report came a day after Google’s chief executive Sunder Pichai said it would invest $10 billion in the country of 1.3 billion people over the next five to seven years.
Foreign firms have spent tens of billions of dollars in India in recent years as they fight for a piece of the Asian giant’s burgeoning digital economy.
This year alone, major players including Facebook, Intel and others have ploughed some $15 billion into Jio Platforms.
Ambani is aiming to take on US giants Amazon and Walmart in India’s growing e-commerce space.
The tycoon said in mid-June that his Reliance conglomerate was net debt free after raising more than $22 billion in a rights issue and selling stakes in Jio Platforms.
