Google to buy $4.5 bn stake in digital unit of India's Reliance

MUMBAI: Google will buy a $4.5 billion stake in Reliance's digital unit and jointly develop an entry-level smartphone with the Indian conglomerate, the two companies said Wednesday as global tech giants race to grab a share of the country's massive market.

"We are delighted to welcome a household name in India and worldwide, Google, and have signed a binding partnership and investment agreement," Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani told shareholders at the oil-to-telecom behemoth's annual meeting.

He said it would give the US firm a 7.7 percent stake in Jio Platforms. The two firms will also develop "an Android-based smartphone operating system", Ambani said, adding: "India is at the doorstep of (the) 5G era."

"We believe we can design (an) entry-level 4G, or even 5G smartphone, for a fraction of its current cost," he said, vowing to "make India free of 2G". "With cheap smartphones and data, millions of Indians came online and Jio had a big role in it," Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a pre-recorded video message released at the meeting.