Reliance Jio is looking at a plan to outsource and manufacture over 100 million low-cost smartphones, to be built on the Google Android platform. These phones, which will be bundled with data packs, could be launched in December or early next year, sources in the know said.
It’s a key ingredient of Jio’s strategy to make India a “2G-mukt Bharat”, they said. According to some leading vendors, the company has held talks with them to manufacture the phones in India. Currently, there is enough capacity within the country to manufacture them with home-grown firms.
Earlier, in a bid to strengthen its e-commerce position, Reliance Industries (RIL) is in talks to acquire online furniture brand Urban Ladder and milk delivery platform Milkbasket also
According to the report, the discussion with Urban Ladder has been going on for the last few months and is now at an advanced stage. People close to discussion pegged the deal at around $30 million including further infusion in the business and earn-out for the management team.
Similarly, Milkbasket is inching close to RIL after its discussions with Amazon and Bigbasket failed to fructify. According to the TOI report, the recent capital infusion of $5 million has given the company a new lease of life and is negotiating over the valuation of the company.