RIL spends Rs 93k cr on Jio, to start handset sales by Diwali

Reliance Industries today said it has already pumped in close to Rs 93,000 crore into its telecom venture under the 'Reliance Jio' brand and will start selling its 4G handsets under the LYF brand from Diwali.
"We've substantially completed our network expansion now having already completed 2.5 lakh route kilometers. We are on course to begin distribution of the handsets under the LYF brand name from Diwali.
"We have already tied up with 1,200 primary distributors for this," Reliance Jio president for devices Sunil Dutt told reporters here this evening.
When asked about how much the company has spent out of its Rs 1 trillion capital into the telecom venture, Reliance Group deputy CFO V Srikanth said it has almost completed the capex by spending close to Rs 93,000 crore so far.

But, he ruled out any fresh capital infusion into the telecom venture saying the company is well-capitalised now.
Anshuman Thakur, head of business strategy development at Reliance Jio said, the company has tied up with five OEMs for handsets and the company will begin by offering 4G services through its own LYF brand smartphones that will allow customers to make Internet-based calls.

He also said going forward the company will start manufacturing the handsets locally and the work is on in this regard.
The second leg of the roll-out will have MiFi handsets, Thakur added.
"Though we wanted to have the first batch of handsets to be locally made, things could not progress as planned. But our commitment to local manufacturing is not negotiable," Dutt said.

"Reliance Retail will soon launch its own brand of 4G LTE smartphones under the brand LYF. The brand built on the premise of unmatched user experience will offer high-performance handsets that deliver a true 4G experience comparable to the best in the world," Thakur said.
The company is likely to offer LYF handsets with dual SIM facility and is expected to be available in the market from November.