Jio Leasing Services Ltd (JLSL), a subsidiary of Jio Financial Services, said it plans to purchase $4.32 billion worth of customer premises equipment, appliances and telecom equipment from Reliance Retail over the next two years. Shareholders seeking approval of transaction.
JLSL is into the business of operating a Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) model and will lease telecom devices along with related services to Reliance Jio Infocomm customers. Reliance Retail, which values Reliance Industries at around $100 billion in 2023, will sell the units to JLSL at cost plus margin.
This deal will be one of the largest equipment deals in the Indian telecom sector. By shifting to a rental model through JLSL, Jio aims to make it more affordable for customers to access the latest 5G devices and attract more subscribers to its network.
The transaction will span the fiscal years ending March 2025 and March 2026.
Jio Financial Services was a little-known non-banking financial subsidiary of Reliance Industries until it spun off and listed the company last year. Reliance still owns more than 80% of the company.
According to the notice, Jio Financial Services also plans to provide payment integration and gateway services to Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail.
The deal signals Jio Financial Services' growing interest in businesses beyond lending. The company plans to lease devices such as laptops and mobile hotspot AirFiber to businesses through a DaaS model.
