Reliance Industries boss Mukesh Ambani has announced an investment of £250 million in various sectors of Assam, including retail, petroleum, telecom, tourism, and sports. The money will potentially create jobs for at least 80,000 people over the next three years. Speaking at the inaugural function of the Global Investors Summit 2018, he said, “Today, I am happy to announce five commitments for Assam over the next three years. Reliance will invest an additional £250 million to augment its presence in this market.”
The company, under its programme, will enhance its retail division's outlet to 40 from existing two, while the number of petrol depots will increase to 164 from the existing 47. “We are also going to open new offices in all 145 tehsil headquarters across Assam. Our approach has always been to create sustainable livelihood opportunities and have generated 20,000 jobs in Assam,” Ambani said. He stated that the state had always been low priority market for other telecom operators, but a 'Category A' market for Reliance. “We now target to increase the sustainable livelihood opportunities by five-fold to 1,00,000 jobs.”
The company's CSR wing Reliance Foundation will partner with the Assam state government, for the tourism sector, and set up a centre in a university to promote “wildlife protection and eco-tourism”. Ambani said, “In football, ISL is a huge success in Assam. We have decided to establish a top class football academy in partnership with Government of Assam to produce global players from the state.” He said Reliance Industries has become the largest private sector investor in Assam by putting in £500 million over the last few years.
Jio, the company's telecom arm has over 30,00,000 users currently and aims to increase it manifold in the coming months. Ambani complimented Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for organising the 'Advantage Assam- Global Investors Summit 2018'. He said, “Assam's development potential is limitless. In 50s, the state was a developed one with its per capital income more than the national average.
