Mark Zuckerberg Reflects On Dhirubhai's Vision For India With Mukesh Ambani

Facebook recently held its Fuel for India 2020 event that focused on the past and future digital advancements in India.

The event saw an interesting interaction between Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, with both sharing their insights on how they see India advancing on digital fronts.

Mark Zuckerberg speaks with Mukesh Ambani during Facebook Fuel For India 2020

Among the many topics discussed, Zuckerberg mentioned an interesting piece of information on Mukesh Ambani¡¯s father - Dhirubhai Ambani, during the online-only event. The Facebook CEO recalled how the late visionary had envisioned an India where people could talk to each other at the cost of a postcard.

¡°You know, going back to Reliance, one of the great business stories in history, your father founded Reliance Industries and he has this incredible legacy here in India,¡± said Zuckerberg to Mukesh Ambani. ¡°And now I¡¯ve read that, he once held up a postcard in his office and said, if every Indian could speak with each other at the cost of this postcard, where will India be?¡± he added.

The statement referred to Dhirubhai Ambani¡¯s vision at his time - to enable communication among Indians at the lowest cost possible. With time as a testimony, his legacy has been able to do just that with the augment of Reliance Jio.

Zuckerberg highlighted this, saying, ¡°And now your father clearly had a vision for where things were heading in the country, and because today Indians can communicate with one another for less than the cost of a postcard.¡± Zuckerberg further mentioned that Facebook tries to do the same with its messaging services.

Reuters

The Facebook CEO then asked Mukesh Ambani, currently the richest man in Asia, about the most important thing that he learned from his father and his legacy.

To this, Ambani thanked Zuckerberg for his words, further presenting how the vision has transcended. ¡°In 2020, we're very proud that Jio has pioneered free voice. So, all the 400 million people are a tribute to his vision,¡± he said. ¡°They are on our network and have a free voice,¡± he added.

¡°He came to Mumbai with just a thousand rupees in 1960 and established Reliance with a belief that I will invest in businesses of the future, and I will invest in talent,¡± Mukesh Ambani mentioned, revealing more about the legacy created by his father.

The duo further talked about a range of topics that revolved around the digitisation of India and how it affects the businesses in the country as well as the people in general. They also discussed the partnership between Jio and Facebook and how it enables several new services in the country, with the most recent example being the WhatsApp Pay.