RIL to double investment in Gujarat by 2028: Ambani

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd will double its investments to Rs 6 lakh crore in Gujarat and create about two million jobs in the state by 2028.

The oil-to-telecom giant also has a new oil-to-chemical strategy ready to boost India’s export sector and generate employment across the country, RIL Chairman Ambani Friday said at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit without revealing the strategy.

Besides, he said RIL is planning to launch a new e-commerce platform from Gujarat, which together with Jio, will empower about 12 lakh shop owners in the state to prosper in their business.

Ambani said his Jio network is now fully 5G ready, which will be launched first from Gujarat seeking to create a fully connected state and make its cities and villages smart.

"Jio is committed to create a fully connected Gujarat. We will make Gujarat a fully prosperous state with not only smart cities but also smart villages,” Ambani said at a gathering of over 10,000 national and international delegates at the inauguration of the Summit that also witnessed participation from the heads of five countries – Uzbekistan, Rwanda, Denmark, Czech Republic and Malta.

Ambani spoke strongly about localisation and protection of user data, calling it new oil and new wealth.

"Today we have to collectively launch a new movement against data colonisation. In this new world, data is new oil and data is new wealth, " he said.

"We will have to migrate data that has been stored abroad. Indian data must be controlled and owned by its people and not by corporates, especially by global corporations," Ambani added.

The 9th Vibrant Gujarat Summit was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.