Mukesh Ambani's Big Bet On Data

Or why mukesh ambani is pumping in thousands of crores into jio. Will this be the big telecom success he’s been seeking for so long?

- T. Surendar

CORPORATE LEGEND HAS IT THAT Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries and a chemical engineer by training, learnt all about telecommunications while clocking miles on the treadmill. That was back in 2002, but the zeal to learn hasn’t diminished. His colleagues say he has wide-ranging interests, from robotics to sociology, adding that Ambani has completed a number of online courses on platforms such as Coursera—while on the treadmill. Clearly, exercising body and mind is not just a slogan.

I meet Ambani in his office at Nariman Point, one of the things I’m really curious about is what he does these days when he’s running. Listening to the speeches and teachings of Swami Vivekananda, is the reply I was really not expecting. “A lot of high-quality stuff is available online on Indian spirituality,” he tells me. “It’s good. Very good.” Given that he’s pushing 60 and has begun initiating his children into the business, is this his preparation for the third ashrama prescribed for Hindu men? (The four ashramas or stages of life start with the student or brahmacharya, going on to the householder or grihastha, and then to the more contemplative and spiritual stages of vanaprastha and sannyasa.)

I would have asked this, except that someone contemplating an ascetic life isn’t going to be making warlike moves. And that’s just what Ambani did in September when he launched his much-awaited telecom venture, Jio. Voice calls, which contribute to some 70% of the revenue of Indian telecom players, were offered free to Jio subscribers.

The big bet was on data; Ambani is convinced that data and data networks are “essential infrastructure” that the country needs to drive the next economic revolution.