Facebook has bought a 9.9 percent stake in Reliance Jio for USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore), the telecom unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in a deal that gives the social media giant a firm foothold in a fast-growing massive market and helps the Indian oil-to-telecom conglomerate to significantly cut debt.

The deal values Jio at USD 65.95 billion.

Commenting on the deal, RIL said this is the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world and the largest FDI in the technology sector in India. The investment values Jio Platforms amongst the top 5 listed companies in India by market capitalization, within just three and a half years of launch of commercial services, it said in a statement.

Facebook said, "This investment underscores our commitment to India, and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country. In less than four years, Jio has brought more than 388 million people online, fueling the creation of innovative new enterprises and connecting people in new ways. We are committed to connecting more people in India together with Jio."

The company further said, "Our goal is to enable new opportunities for businesses of all sizes, but especially for the more than 60 million small businesses across India."

Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail and Facebook's WhatsApp service have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to further accelerate Reliance Retail’s new commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp, RIL said.

Here are all the companies Jio has invested in so far:

Haptik

Haptik is a startup offering conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI). Jio bought 87 percent stake in the company last year for nearly Rs 700 crore.

Haptik's technology can help Jio in building Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana and Google Assistant.

Saavn

Reliance Jio in 2018 bought music streaming app Saavn and integrated it with JioMusic. Jio bought the stake for roughly Rs 720 crore to compete against the likes of Gaana, Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music.

Den, Datacom and Hathaway

Jio has also bought 66 percent stake in Den Networks with an investment of Rs 2,045 crore and a 51.3 percent stake in Hathway Cable and Datacom with an investment of Rs 2,940 crore.

This investment helped Jio roll out it home broadband JioFibre.

Since its launch three years ago, Jio, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has grown at a sprinter’s pace to become India’s largest telecom company. It has accumulated some 340 million customers through a barrage of innovations, including offering cut-throat mobile internet prices.

The deal will help reduce RIL’s debt burden of, which bulged due to the breakneck expansion of Jio and other businesses. Ambani invested around $40 billion to launch Jio in 2016. RIL is also the largest retail player in India thanks to a series of aggressive expansionary moves into consumer-facing businesses such as ecommerce and grocery.

ALSO READ: Here's why Facebook bought stake in Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore

The Facebook deal is now the centrepiece of the ambitions of India’s biggest private company to cut net debt to zero by March 2021.

RIL has in recent months accelerated efforts to reduce debt by attempting to sell stakes worth billions of dollars in some of its businesses. It is in talks with Saudi Aramco to sell 20 percent of its oil to chemicals business and Canadian private equity firm Brookfield Asset Management for a stake in its tower business.

For Facebook, India has in recent years emerged as a critical market. The company has more users in India than any other country. Its WhatsApp chat service, which is about to launch a payments service, has attracted 340 million users.

Despite the rapid growth of its social network and WhatsApp, Facebook stumbled with its Free Basics plan to provide free internet services after a ban by Trai, the telecom regulator. It now has an established ally on its side that is present in sectors ranging from telecom to ecommerce to home internet.

A recent report by Cisco said India is poised to have more than 900 million internet users due to the increased penetration of affordable smartphones and cheaper internet plans. India will also have around 2.1 billion internet-connected devices by 2023, said the report.

Last year, Reliance said last year that it would turn Jio into a new digital services company by investing nearly USD 15 billion, potentially attracting investors in the run-up to an eventual listing. The Jio-Facebook comes after Microsoft signed a 10-year deal with Reliance in 2019 to power the Indian company’s data centers with its Azure cloud.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.