“Google has empowered millions of Indians to access helpful information and, like Jio, is a force for change and innovation. We welcome Google onboard and are excited about our partnership for what it can deliver to Indians, from universalising Internet usage to deepening the new digital economy and providing a prime mover to India’s economic growth. Together, we hope to play a strong facilitative role in the transformative journey of building a new, Digital India,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said.
Jio’s partnership with Google on creating an entry-level smartphone comes as no surprise. Google has been aiming to bring millions of feature phone users in India to transition to smartphones with its Android Go initiative. Android Go, as you may know, is a stripped down version of Android for phones low on RAM and storage. The optimised Android platform that Jio is talking about could be based on the Android Go platforms, but it’s still early in the days to know for sure.
“Reliance Industries, and Jio Platforms in particular, deserve a good deal of credit for India’s digital transformation. The pace and scale of digital transformation in India is hugely inspiring for us and reinforces our view that building products for India first helps us build better products for users everywhere. Google is proud to invest Rs 33,737 crore into Jio. I am excited that our joint collaboration will focus on increasing access for hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t currently own a smartphone while improving the mobile experience for all,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.