RIL to connect small entrepreneurs in Bengal: Mukesh Ambani

 Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani today said the company would partner small entrepreneurs of West Bengal by providing them connectivity.

"In the next phase, we will partner with the small entrepreneurs of the state by providing them with connectivity," Ambani said at the opening of the two-day Bengal Global Business Summit here.

Reliance, through its telecom arm Reliance Jio, has invested nearly Rs 5,000 crore in the state in the last three years for developing the digital broadband network.

"We have connected more than 1,000 towns and 23,000 plus villages. Our aim is to connect all the 40,000 villages by 2017," Ambani said.

Complimenting West Bengal government, he said "We have got all the approvals in a time-bound manner."

"As an investor, I stand here to say that West Bengal is among the top of the list in terms of doing business and recommend the state as an ideal investment destination," Ambani said in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and several other industrialists, giving a shot in the arm to the government battling to develop an industry-friendly image ahead of the state polls.

He said Reliance is providing direct employment to 11,000 people and indirect jobs to 30,000 others and is one of the leading employers in the private sector in the state.