Reliance Jio, the largest mobile operator in India, added 81 million mobile users in the year to end-March and nearly tripled profit in its fiscal Q4 (calendar Q1), as rivals struggled with falling profitability and shed customers.

Net profit in fiscal Q4 increased 177.5 per cent year-on-year to INR23.3 billion ($308.4 million), with operating revenue growing 26.6 per cent to INR148 billion.

For its fiscal 2020, net profit rose 88 per cent to INR55.6 billion.

Its subscriber base grew 26.3 per cent to 388 million at end-March, while ARPU increased 3.5 per cent to INR130.60. In fiscal Q4 alone it added 24 million subs.

In a statement, the company said it registered a significant increase in traffic during the country’s lockdown, with no drop in network performance.

Average monthly data usage per user increased to 11.3GB from 10.9GB in fiscal Q4 2019.

Next growth phase
Commenting on Facebook acquiring a 10 per cent stake for $5.7 billion, Reliance Industries chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani (pictured) said the operator is embarking on the next leg of growth with a path-defining partnership with one of the world’s largest digital companies.

“We are together determined to make India a truly digital society with best-in-class connectivity network complemented with disruptive digital technology platforms for entertainment, commerce, communication, finance, education and health harnessing world’s best tech capabilities.”

The company said INR280.6 billion ($3.7 billion) of the injection would go to reducing debt, with the remaining INR150 billion to be retained at Jio Platforms to drive future growth.