Facebook now owns 9.99 per cent stake in Reliance Jio

Mumbai : Facebook Inc on Tuesday announced that it has invested around $5.7 billion in Reliance Industries Ltd's telecom unit, making it the largest minority shareholder in Jio Platforms Limited.

The company mentioned that they will be looking forward for collaborating their WhatsApp messaging application with Reliance's e-commerce venture JioMart to enable people to connect with small businesses.

The total investment by Facebook translates into 9.99% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis, Jio said in a statement.

Interestingly, the investment update comes at a time when WhatsApp has gained approval to release its digital payment services in India, putting itself in direct competition with market giants like Google Pay and PayTm.

WhatsApp has 400 million users in India, its biggest market, reaching nearly 80% of smartphone users in the country.

Reliance Jio, the fast-growing telecom carrier controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, began operations in late 2016.