Ambani says to invest Rs 10,000 cr in West Bengal in telecom, e-comm expansion

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani Thursday announced Rs 10,000 crore more investment in West Bengal in expansion of his firm's telecom network as also new e-commerce venture.

Ambani, who heads India's biggest private sector company Reliance Industries, said his firm's investment in West Bengal has grown from Rs 4,500 crore in 2016 to Rs 28,000 crore.

"This accounts for about one-tenth of our total investments in India so far," he said adding the firm's telecom arm, Jio has become the largest investor in the digital space in the state.

"Now, we have firmed up our plan for a further investment of over Rs 10,000 crores," he told the Bengal Global Business Summit here.

Fresh investments would be in extending Jio's high-speed 4G network coverage to all entire state within 2019, connecting homes with fibre to carry high-speed internet and HD quality broadcasting and in logistics hub.

"West Bengal is poised to become the logistics hub of the east, with plans to attract investments of Rs 5,000 crore by 2020," he said. "We at Reliance operate nearly 3 million square feet of warehouses in Bengal and with our new commerce initiative, this will increase manifold in the next 24 months."
"Both Bengal and its capital are not just leapfrogging; they are pole-vaulting to new heights of progress," he said. "Bengal's GDP has crossed Rs 10 lakh crores. It was less than Rs 4 lakh crores at the beginning of this decade when you took reins of this state in your able hands."
"We are ahead of all countries except the United States, China, Japan, and Germany," he said. "In about a decade, India will become the third largest economy with a GDP of over USD 10 trillion which is about four times the size of our economy today."