Reliance Group to invest Rs 10k cr in tech space: Anil Ambani

Billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Group today committed to invest about Rs 10,000 crore over the next few years to expand its presence across digital, cloud computing and telecom space.

Reliance Group, which already has India's fourth largest telecom company in Reliance Communication, plans to achieve full deployment of next generation content and Cloud Delivery Network by the year end, Ambani said at the launch of Digital India Week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

The five fully operational Cloud Xchange points "can help government departments access 240 times the amount of compute power currently available in Government data centres, and over 6 times the high speed storage currently available in India", he said.

This network will have the ability to scale up 100 per cent every 90 days as the Digital India initiative gathers momentum and becomes a part of the daily lives of millions of Indians.

"We have committed to invest nearly Rs 10,000 crore over the next few years to fund these transformational initiatives across the digital, cloud and telecom space," he said.

Ambani said he has signed up personally for Digital locker - an online file or digital media storage service, which is Modi's pet theme.

"We will also launch innovative schemes to encourage each and every of our 300 million customers across our various businesses - one in every 4 Indians - to secure their own Digital lockers," he said.

Ambani said a crucial pre-condition for the success of Digital India was the availability of "unlimited cloud computing power", the building block of which is data centres.

"The Reliance Group is today India's largest provider of data centre facilities, with a total capacity of over 6,00,000 square feet spread across the country," he said, adding that plans are to double this capacity to 1.2 million sq fee in next few years.

Ambani said the Indian story, which had been driven by 3-Ds - democracy, demographics and demand, added a fourth 'D' - Decisiveness.

"A little over a year ago, we added a 4th `D’, which is perhaps even more important: Decisiveness. With Narendrabhai assuming charge as Prime Minister, we inaugurated a new era in our nation's history: of visionary and decisive leadership," he said.

Digital India, he said, would add another unique dimension to that story.

"It is an initiative that has the power to connect, to bridge, to integrate us as a nation like never before even as we build our physical infrastructure," he said.

Modi, he said, is India's greatest and among the world's most popular leaders in the digital space with over 80 lakh followers on Twitter and over 3 times that number – or 2.5 crore followers -- on Facebook.

"In other words, Digital India carries the signature of a leader whose name is synonymous with the transformational power of connectivity and communication," he said.