Google has partnered with Ambani’s Reliance to offer free access to AI Pro to millions of Jio users in India

Looking to expand its AI footprint in emerging markets, Google has partnered with billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to bundle its AI Pro subscription with Jio 5G plans at no extra cost.

On Thursday, Google announced a partnership with Reliance, India’s largest company by market capitalization, to offer its AI Pro subscription free for 18 months to eligible Jio users. The alliance comes just three months after Perplexity teamed up with Reliance’s arch-rival Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator, to provide free access to Perplexity Pro to Airtel’s 360 million subscribers.

India, the world’s most populous nation and the second-largest internet market with over a billion users, has long been an irresistible target for global technology firms. Although the country has yet to see a major AI breakthrough of its own, US tech giants increasingly see it as the next big frontier — a place to gather diverse data, refine models and test AI use cases that could later spread to other emerging markets. The latest partnership between Google and Reliance is a clear reflection of this strategy.

Jio’s offer will initially reach users aged 18 to 25 before being extended to all Jio subscribers across the country, the companies said. It includes access to Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro model via the Gemini app, higher AI image and video generation limits with Nano Banana and Veo 3.1, expanded use of Notebook LM for learning and research, and 2 TB of cloud storage in Google Photos, Gmail, Drive, and WhatsApp backups.

« This partnership will also explore delivering more delightful AI-powered local experiences to Jio users, » the Indian telecom giant said.

The 18-month offer is valued at ₹35,100 (about $396), the companies said. Google’s AI Pro plan usually costs ₹1,950 (about $22) per month in India and includes a one-month free trial.

Apart from the consumer offering, Reliance has also partnered with Google Cloud to expand access to its tensor processing units (TPUs) in India. Reliance’s AI subsidiary, Reliance Intelligence, will become a strategic go-to-market partner on Google Cloud to expand Gemini Enterprise into Indian organizations and will develop its own pre-built AI agents for the platform.

« Today’s announcement will put Google’s most advanced AI tools in the hands of consumers, businesses and the vibrant developer community in India, » Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said in a prepared statement.

At its 48th annual general meeting in late August, Reliance announced partnerships with its investors Google and Meta to strengthen its AI infrastructure in India through a newly created subsidiary, Reliance Intelligence. Reliance and Meta have also committed to a joint venture with a combined investment of ₹8.55 billion (approximately $100 million), with a 70/30 ownership split.

Earlier this week, Google rival OpenAI announced plans to offer free access to its sub-$5 ChatGPT Go plan to all users in India from November 4. The entry-level tier, which launched locally in August, has since expanded to 17 countries in Asia.

AI heavyweights like OpenAI and Anthropic are also setting up shop in India, hoping to learn more about local users and expand their reach in the world’s largest emerging market.

Earlier this year, Google offered Indian students a free one-year subscription to its AI Pro plan. This promotion runs until September 15th.

India has already helped usher in US-led AI platforms and ranks among the leading consumer markets for tools such as Google’s Nano Banana, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Expanding free access to paid versions of AI can further accelerate adoption and cement India’s position as a key growing consumer market for generative AI offerings. However, it remains to be seen how India will translate into significant revenue for these AI companies once the current wave of free bundle offers passes.

« Through our collaboration with strategic and long-term partners like Google, we aim to make India not only AI-enabled, but AI-empowered – where every citizen and enterprise can use smart tools to create, innovate and grow, » Ambani said.