'Big believer in blockchain technology': Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is a “big believer” in blockchain technology and described it as a “very important framework for just and trust-based society”.

Predicting that it would redefine the world of finance, this business tycoon said that smart contracts will become a reality and blockchain, which he pointed out is different from crypto, is a technology that he believes in.

His views on blockchain technology at a virtual forum, hosted by the International Financial Services Authority (IFSCA) and others, come on the same day (Friday, December 3), the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology (MeitY) released a national strategy on blockchain. This strategy document identifies areas where this technology can be deployed, including in government systems such as e-governance.

Ambani also praised the country for implementing the most forward-looking policies and regulations, said news reports. “India has Aadhaar, Jan Dhan Accounts, and our UPI interface,” he said, adding that the country was on the verge of introducing a data privacy bill, which he is personally looking forward to. The country is also bringing in the cryptocurrency bill, he acknowledged.

Hence, he felt India is moving on the right track, and “what impresses me the most is that as a society we are most proactive, open and vibrant,” he said.

Further, he added that as India is witnessing a digital-first revolution, the country is poised to build a digital society. “Smart tokens are making sure that transactions are made that can never be changed,” he said. “The convergence of real-time, convergence of distributed ledger and blockchain technologies, smart tokens, convergence of physical and digital through IoT will enable and redefine the decentralised financial sector in a way never imagined,” he added, said an Indian Express report.

Also read: Govt has no plans to recognise Bitcoin as currency: Finance Minister

Terming data as the new oil yet again, Ambani said the “new oil” is fundamentally different from the traditional one, as traditional oil was extracted at certain places; thus, it created wealth only for some countries. While, the new oil data—can be generated and consumed everywhere and by everybody, giving it the capacity to create value equitably, across sectors, across geographies, across economic classes, he reiterated.

Ambani’s telecom venture, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, is expected to roll 5G services next year, after which the country will have one of the most advanced telecom infrastructure in the world, he said. “The next step will be the connectivity of machines, devices and vehicles, which is the Internet of Things (IoT),” he said, according to a Mint report.

According to Ambani, this will happen in the coming 10 years and, this will be a prerequisite to great economic growth in the country. “Today, there is more money chasing people and we are short of ideas, and I am sure our young people will come up with more ideas as there are still many problems to be solved in the world,” Ambani added.