Reliance Industries Ltd chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani on Friday announced investment of Rs 75,000 crore in North Eastern states to set up 350 biogas plants, expanding its telecom services, retail footprint, and clean energy projects.
Speaking at the Rising NorthEast Investors Summit, Ambani said his group will invest in factories for high-quality FMCG products in the region and set up a 150-bed cancer hospital in Manipur.
"Reliance has invested around Rs 30,000 crore in the region in the past 40 years. In the next five years, we will more than double our investments, with our target at Rs 75,000 crore," he said.
This investment will create over 2.5 million direct and indirect employment opportunities as the conglomerate aspires to touch the lives of most of the 45 million population in the North-East.
Ambani said he is making six commitments to the Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
The group's telecom unit Jio has already covered 90 per cent of the population with over 5 million 5G subscribers.
"We will double this number this year. Jio's priority will be to bring the revolutionary power of Artificial Intelligence to all schools, hospitals, enterprises and homes," he said.
Ambani said Reliance Retail will vastly increase its procurement of staples, fruits, and vegetables to boost the income of farmers.
"We will also invest in factories for high-quality FMCG products in the region and promote the region's fabulous artisan economy," he said.
Ambani said Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the group, will bring the best of cancer care to the North-East.
"To begin with, we have established a 150-bed comprehensive cancer hospital in Manipur. We are collaborating with Mizoram University on the care of breast cancer using genomic data. In Guwahati, we have built an Advanced Molecular Diagnostics and Research Lab. It will be among the largest Genome Sequencing Capacities in India," he said.
Stating that the North-East is a treasure-house of world-class talent in multiple sports, he said Reliance Foundation will work with all eight states to set up Olympic Training Centres, which will prepare our youth to be tomorrow's medal-winners in the Olympics.
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