By P.R. Venkat

Private equity firm KKR & Co. has agreed to invest 113.67 billion rupees (US$1.50 billion) in Jio Platforms Ltd., joining the list that includes Facebook Inc. and other big U.S. firms that want a slice of the Indian telecommunications and technology giant.

KKR's investment will give it a 2.32% stake in Jio Platforms, which has an equity value of INR4.91 trillion, Reliance Industries said Friday.

With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised INR785.62 billion from leading technology investors, including Facebook Inc., Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic L.L.C. over the last month.

Last month, Facebook agreed to invest $5.7 billion for just under a 10% stake in the Mumbai-based telecom firm.

Reliance in recent years spent more than $30 billion to build from scratch its upstart mobile operator, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., which is part of Jio Platforms. Reliance has said that it is aiming for it to be net debt-free by next year.

Jio has attracted more than 388 million subscribers with inexpensive mobile-data plans and is now moving into e-commerce, as legions of people in the country of 1.3 billion begin transacting online for the first time.

"We are looking forward to leveraging KKR's global platform, industry knowledge and operational expertise to further grow Jio," Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said.

Henry Kravis, co-Founder of KKR, said his company's investment in Jio was a strong indicator of the private equity firm's commitment to support leading technology companies in India and Asia Pacific.

Reliance Industries has investments spanning media, retail and natural resources.

Morgan Stanley advised Reliance Industries on the deal. 



  Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com