New Delhi: India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani has elbowed past Hong Kong realty magnet Li Ka-shing to emerge as Asia’s second-richest man, thanks to spectacular launch of Jio, 4G telecom venture of Reliance Industries.
According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, RIL chairman has added $12.5 billion to his wealth this year as petroleum-to-telecom major’s stock touched a record high.
The latest boost to RIL share came with the launch of JioPhone, an effectively free homegrown 4G device which has high-end features like voice assistant and supports 22 languages, last month. Once JioPhone hits the market on August 15, a large section of about 50 crore 2G phone users is likely to move to Jio network.
RIL has invested more than $31 billion in telecom business, considered to be passion of Mukesh Ambani.
While about 90 per cent of RIL’s revenues continue to come from its refining and petrochemicals business, a Bloomberg report pointed about that the company’s debt has climbed to a 15-year high, mainly due to telecom investments.
Ambani described Jio as “a jewel” among Reliance assets during the company’s annual general meeting on July 21. “Its business and societal value will grow immensely over the next decade,” he said. “Jio will become India’s largest provider of data service, products and application platforms.”
For Ambani, the gains have swelled his net worth to $35.2 billion, taking him to number 19 in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index from 29 at the end of 2016.
Jio took just nine months after launching with a free introductory offer to rope in 117.3 million users and become India’s fourth-largest operator, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Optimism about the telecom upstart’s prospects grew after Ambani announced initial pricing for the service in February, sparking an almost 50 per cent surge in Reliance shares.
Ambani’s ambitions aren’t limited to a phone service. The company has started offering fixed-line internet connections to households and tied up with AirWire Technologies to offer a device that connects to a car for diagnostics, Wi-Fi and other services.
“Our energy and materials businesses constitute a strong platform to generate stable, annuity-like cash flows with a potential to reach EBITDA of 1 trillion rupees within the next few years,” Ambani said on July 21.
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