Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited
The year 2025 was a pivotal year for Reliance Jio. The telco crossed the 500 million customer milestone, undertook the world’s fastest 5G roll-out, and laid the foundation for the next phase of digital innovation and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. Over the past year, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited, spoke about India’s thriving digital economy, the promise of emerging technologies and Jio’s evolving role in the telecom sector at various industry events. Edited excerpts from some of his addresses…
5G-led digital transformation
We have crossed over 500 million customers and Jio today stands at the centre of India’s digital transformation. When we conceived Jio, high data prices, limited network reach and slow internet speeds were holding back digital adoption in the country. For millions of Indians, access to online services was expensive and unreliable. We set out to change this reality by making connectivity affordable, accessible and scalable nationwide.
In a short span of time, Jio reshaped the telecom sector by making voice calls free and data affordable. Mobile phones became gateways to entertainment, education, financial services and commerce for citizens across the country. Affordable connectivity also enabled India’s digital public infrastructure – including Aadhaar-linked services, UPI-based payments, Jan Dhan financial inclusion programmes and direct benefit transfers – to scale rapidly.
This digital foundation has supported India’s emergence as the world’s third largest start-up ecosystem, with over a hundred unicorns building technology-driven businesses and reaching customers nationwide.
Building on this progress, we have played a pivotal role in India’s transition to next-generation connectivity through 5G. Our nationwide 5G roll-out has been among the fastest in the world, laying the foundation for the next phase of digital innovation and AI adoption. Our migration from 4G to 5G has been seamless, enabling us to upgrade our entire customer base with minimal incremental capital expenditure while delivering higher speeds, lower latency and massive data capacity.
We offer a complete 5G ecosystem that integrates network connectivity, compatible devices, service support and value-added digital applications. Through Reliance Retail’s nationwide distribution network and partnerships with leading smartphone manufacturers, we have accelerated 5G adoption across the country.
At the core of our roll-out is a fully indigenous 5G technology stack, making Jio one of the few telecom operators globally to develop an end-to-end network in-house. Our cloud-native, software-defined architecture supports standalone 5G deployment, carrier aggregation and network slicing, with embedded AI and machine learning capabilities to optimise performance and reliability. Advanced security features, including quantum security readiness, are integrated while ensuring seamless interoperability with global telecom equipment.
Our hardware ecosystem complements this software-led network design, with solutions ranging from compact small cells for dense indoor environments to high-capacity tower-based radios for wide area coverage. We have also deployed low-power small cells in high-consumption locations such as tourist centres and religious sites to expand capacity while maintaining energy efficiency.
Beyond mobility, we have extended 5G capabilities into home broadband through JioAirFiber. The service now covers thousands of towns across India and crossed 1 million customers within the first hundred days of its launch. Using standalone 5G and millimetre wave spectrum, JioAirFiber delivers high-capacity, low-latency connectivity for streaming, remote work, education, cloud services and enterprise applications.
Enterprise digitalisation is another key pillar of our growth. We have built simple, scalable and secure platforms that combine connectivity, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity and AI-enabled tools for organisations of all sizes. This is not just digitalisation; it is the democratisation of enterprise-grade technology. Today, over 80 per cent of India’s largest enterprises and more than a million small and medium businesses rely on Jio’s digital infrastructure to modernise operations and enhance productivity.
Jio carries the largest volume of wireless data traffic in the world, reflecting the scale at which India’s digital economy is now operating.
Our expanding digital ecosystem continues to deliver strong financial performance. During the third quarter of 2025-26, the company’s net profit rose to Rs 71.73 billion, while revenue from operations increased to Rs 327.51 billion. Profit before tax and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation also recorded significant gains.
Embedding AI
AI now stands at the centre of Reliance’s next phase of transformation. Building on the digital foundation created through Jio, our focus is on delivering affordable AI for every Indian and embedding intelligence across businesses, platforms and everyday services.
To guide this journey, we have prepared a comprehensive AI Manifesto that outlines our ambition to transform Reliance into a deep-technology enterprise with AI at its core. The manifesto is designed to drive a tenfold improvement in productivity across more than 600,000 employees while creating a tenfold impact across
India’s economy and society, with safety, trust and accountability at the forefront of every deployment.
Connected intelligence is a core pillar of this approach. Through Jio AI-Cloud, secure cloud data storage is integrated with AI-powered services to enable automation, analytics and personalised digital experiences, while ensuring the highest standards
of data privacy, security and sovereignty.
Reliance is building gigawatt-scale, AI-ready data centres powered by green energy in Jamnagar to support national-scale AI training and inference.
To accelerate these efforts, we have established a wholly owned subsidiary, Reliance Intelligence, to anchor next-generation AI infrastructure, services and talent.
The new company will serve as a hub for global collaboration, sector-specific AI solutions and world-class talent, bringing together advanced technologies with deep domain expertise to convert innovation into scalable real-world applications for India and the world.
Global partnerships
To accelerate India’s AI transformation, we are deepening collaborations with leading global technology partners that bring cutting-edge innovation and scale.
We have entered into a deeper and more holistic partnership with Google to integrate advanced cloud infrastructure and AI technologies across our digital ecosystem. Through this collaboration, developers, start-ups and enterprises across India will gain access to secure, high-performance digital tools that enable faster innovation, stronger cybersecurity and scalable AI deployment across industries.
We have also launched a new India-focused AI joint venture with Meta to combine open-source AI models with Reliance’s operational expertise across telecom, retail, energy, media and manufacturing. This initiative is aimed at building sovereign, enterprise-ready AI platforms that prioritise transparency, safety and cost efficiency.
Regional transformation
Gujarat remains central to Reliance’s long-term growth journey and to India’s next phase of industrial transformation. Over the past five years, we have invested more than Rs 3.5 trillion in the state, making Reliance Gujarat’s largest investor. Building on this foundation, we have committed to doubling this investment to Rs 7 trillion over the next five years.
Jamnagar, once one of the world’s largest hubs for hydrocarbon energy exports, is now being transformed into a global centre for green energy and sustainable materials. In parallel, we are developing Kutch into a global clean energy hub through one of the world’s largest utility-scale solar power projects integrated with energy storage and modern grid systems.
Digital infrastructure is also being embedded into this regional transformation through India’s largest AI-ready data centre in Jamnagar, powered by green energy.
Beyond industrial development, our commitments extend to healthcare, education and sports infrastructure, including world-class medical facilities in Jamnagar, expanded educational institutions across Saurashtra, and partnerships supporting India’s Olympic ambitions.
The road ahead
India is entering a defining decade of growth driven by technology, innovation and large-scale infrastructure development. Rapid digital adoption and expanding connectivity have created a strong foundation for the next phase of economic transformation.
Jio will continue to play a central role in strengthening India’s digital economy by expanding advanced connectivity, deep-technology platforms and AI services across the country. By working closely with global technology leaders, developers, start-ups and enterprises, we are focused on bringing the most advanced digital tools and AI capabilities to every sector of the economy.
Building on this momentum, we have announced plans for Jio’s initial public offering in the first half of 2026. India’s current policy framework, strong digital public infrastructure, regulatory stability and reform-driven governance have created a supportive environment for long-term investments in technology and sustainable development.
Our investments across AI, clean energy, digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing are aimed at driving long-term productivity, industrial competitiveness and sustainable growth. From enabling next-generation digital services to powering the data-driven economy with green energy, these initiatives are being built to support
India’s development for decades to come.
Even as the global geopolitical landscape presents new challenges, India’s growing technological self-reliance, economic resilience and policy stability provide a strong platform for continued progress. The country is not only preparing for the future but actively shaping it through innovation, infrastructure and inclusive growth.
