Make in Odisha Conclave 2018: RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani commits to Rs 3,000-cr investment in state

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is investing an additional Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years in its various businesses in Odisha with most of the investment aimed at creating a digital infrastructure in the state. Mukesh D  Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, made this announcement at the ‘Make in Odisha - Conclave 2018’, today in the presence of a host of dignitaries including Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Japanese Ambassador to India, Kenji Hiramatsu and consul generals of several other countries, besides other leading business heads, and representatives from industry body FICCI. Ambani was the star speaker at the Business Leadership Summit that was organised just after the plenary session of the conclave. “The summit will provide leadership perspective from industry captains to inspire next generation leaders,” Odisha Industries Minister Ananta Das had said earlier. The RIL group has so far invested Rs 6,000 crore in Odisha. “For Reliance, Jio is not another business but a mission to transform India and Odisha. We have created and sustained new employment opportunities for over 30,000 people in this state,” Ambani said. “I believe India will rise from a lowly 135th rank… to be amongst the top three nations in fixed broadband. Our aim is to take the power of digital life to every nook and corner of the state, particularly in rural Odisha,” he said.

Mukesh Ambani at #MIO2018 says aim is to take the power of digital life to every nook & corner of Odisha; committing to invest over Rs 3,000 cr in new businesses in Odisha pic.twitter.com/cPFvVjIuZo

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) November 12, 2018

Ambani said he had a ‘big reason’ for focusing on the digital business. “The world is at the cusp of a digital revolution. Everything in the world is going digital –music, car, banks, education. Every aspect of life is going digital. Digital technologies will completely transform every sector of the economy and every aspect of life. This will be achieved by tools of connectivity and technologies,” Ambani said. Jio has connected 43,000 villages in Orissa. In the past eight months, several millions have got an affordable smartphone, Ambani said. He said, for most of these villages and villagers, “this isn’t their pehla phone but also their  pehla radio and_pehla_ music player, pehla TV, pehla camera. Also, it is their pehla introduction to the Internet and Artificial Intelligence in their lives,” Ambani said. All this is available to them an affordable price of Rs 100 per month, he said, adding this combination of connectivity with affordability is unparalleled in the world. “I am glad to report that per capita data consumption in the state is amongst the highest in the country. We are working with the Odisha government to integrate several lakhs of women in the Mission Sakthi scheme. We are taking another step to propel Orissa in the digital future. Our aim and resolve is to ensure that India rises from 135 rank to among the top three ranks in fixed broadband,” Ambani said. Besides investment in business, Reliance Foundation will partner with Odisha in setting up Odisha High Performance Athletics Centre. “This Centre will train local talent under world-renowned experts to develop them into Olympic medal winners of tomorrow,” he said.

Mr. Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman, RIL at Make In Odisha Conclave Bhubaneswar. https://t.co/bhnsj1IA6r

— Reliance Industries Limited (@RIL_Updates) November 12, 2018

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Apart from seeking investment from the industries, the prime objective of the conclave is to showcase the potential of the state in different sectors, said industries secretary Sanjeev Chopra. The first edition of the conclave was held in 2016 where the state had received investment proposals worth Rs 2 lakh crore, he claimed. (Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost)