Reliance To Invest Rs 10 Lakh Crore in Building AI Infrastructure: Mukesh Ambani
Reliance Industries to build AI data centres, nationwide edge network
New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Thursday announced that his retail-to-telecom conglomerate will invest as much as Rs 10 lakh crore ($110 billion) in building artificial intelligence-related infrastructure, joining the global rush into the fastest-growing arena in technology. “Reliance Industries Ltd and its telecom unit Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, will invest this sum over seven years,” Ambani said at the AI Impact Summit on Thursday in New Delhi.
The mega investment is expected to focus on three pillars: gigawatt-scale AI-ready data centres in Jamnagar, leveraging up to 10 GW of green power surplus, and a nationwide edge-compute layer integrated with telecom and digital operator Jio’s networks to deliver low-latency AI across India. “Jio, together with Reliance, will invest Rs 10 lakh crore over the next seven years,” said Ambani, CMD of Reliance Industries Ltd.
While speaking at the summit, Ambani also said that the initiative would connect every citizen, business, and government service to AI, echoing the transformative scale of Jio’s digital revolution. “Jio connected India to the Internet Era and it will now connect India to the Intelligence Era. India cannot afford to rent intelligence. Therefore, we will reduce the cost of intelligence as dramatically as we did in the case of data,” said Ambani, CMD of Reliance Industries.
Ambani, however, framed the effort as part of India’s broader mission to lead the AI century and bridge the Global South and North. “Let us combine intelligence with empathy and build a better future for all. AI can usher in an era of super-abundance. A world without poverty and a future of prosperity for all the eight billion people on our beautiful planet is now within sight, within reach,” he said, calling AI a tool to realise India’s vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
On investment, he said that this is not a speculative investment; it is not for chasing valuation. “This is patient, disciplined, nation-building capital - designed to create durable economic value and strategic resilience for decades to come. Jio will play an even bigger role in India’s AI transformation,” he said adding that it will deliver intelligence to every citizen, every sector of the economy, every facet of social development, and every service of government.
“Jio will do so with the same reliability, quality, scale, and extreme affordability that transformed connectivity. India cannot afford to rent intelligence. Therefore, we will reduce the cost of intelligence as dramatically as we did the cost of data,” he added.
Ambani outlined five guiding principles for Jio Intelligence: prioritising AI for deep-tech, manufacturing, and the informal sector; world-leading multilingual AI; responsibility, security and data residency; creating high-skill employment; and building a robust AI ecosystem with enterprises, startups, and research institutions.
The group has already begun deploying AI applications for inclusive development, including JioShikshak for adaptive learning in 22 languages, JioArogyAI for rapid medical guidance, JioKrishi to help 140 million farmers increase yields, and JioBharatIQ, a voice-first AI assistant for education, employment, and government services.
AI, he said, is not just another technology. For the first time, humans are creating human-like systems that can learn, speak, analyse, move and produce autonomously. “We are only at the dawn of this era. The best of AI is yet to come. Today, the world is debating a profound question: will AI concentrate power in the hands of a few or will it democratise opportunity for all?” he questioned.
“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,” he said.
