Mukesh Ambani's Reliance makes Rs 10 lakh cr audacious bet on India's AI prowess

Making a 'bold' bet on India's AI prowess, billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday announced that Jio together with Reliance Industries will invest Rs 10 lakh crore in artificial ⁠intelligence over the next seven years.

This is not speculative investment, the Reliance chairman said while speaking at the AI India Impact Summit. "India will emerge as one of the greatest AI powers in the world in the 21st century. My confidence is validated by an undeniable truth. In the coming decades, no country in the world can match India's strength in demography, democracy, development, digital infrastructure, data generation, AI harvest."

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Jio's big bets

Jio Intelligence will build India’s sovereign compute infrastructure through three key initiatives, Mukesh Ambani said. “One, gigawatt-scale data centres. We have already started constructing multi-gigawatt AI-ready data centres at Jamnagar. Over 120 megawatts will come online in the second half of 2026, paving a clear path to gigawatt-scale compute for AI training and large-scale inference. Two, our green energy advantage. We have up to 10 gigawatts of ready green power surplus, anchored by solar in Kutch and Andhra Pradesh."

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"Three, a nationwide edge compute layer. Deeply integrated with Jio’s network, it will make AI responsive, low-latency, and affordable close to where Indians live, learn, and work,” Ambani added.

He noted that India is the world’s largest mobile data consumer, with nearly 1 billion internet users and some of the lowest data costs globally. “In terms of quality, there is no difference between Delhi and the remotest Indian village.”

Ambani highlighted India’s digital ecosystem: “Aadhaar provides 1.4 billion digital IDs. UPI processes over 12 billion transactions monthly. India ranks among the top three startup ecosystems, with over 100,000 startups and more than 100 unicorns. Our secure and inclusive digital public infrastructure is now being adopted globally. Jio, with over 500 million loyal subscribers, was privileged to play a leading role in this transformation across broadband, 4G, 5G, and home connectivity.”

He emphasized, “India cannot afford to rent intelligence. We will reduce the cost of intelligence as dramatically as we did the cost of data.”

Ambani said, “The biggest constraint in AI today is not talent or imagination. It is scarcity and high cost of compute.”

Amabani's Akshaya Patra reference

"Artificial Intelligence is not just another technology. For the first time, humans are creating human-like systems that can learn, speak, analyse, move, and produce autonomously. AI is the mantra that powers every yantra or every machine and system to work faster, better, and smarter," he stated.

"I see AI as a modern-day Akshay Patra, the legendary vessel in the Mahabharat that provided endless nourishment to all. Likewise, AI offers limitless augmentation in knowledge, efficiency, and productivity. We are only at the dawn of this era. The best of AI is yet to come."

He added, "Today, the world is debating a profound question—will AI concentrate power in the hands of a few, or will it democratize opportunity for all? Do we act as isolated nations, or as a united global family? Our polarised world stands at a fork. One path has led to a situation where AI is scarce and expensive, compute is concentrated, data is controlled, and capability is locked behind barriers of capital and geography in the global north."

In this dismal scenario, inequality widens between nations, within societies, and across generations, he added.