Google and Jio Platforms have entered into a commercial agreement to jointly develop an entry-level affordable smartphone with optimisations to the Android operating system.

“Together we are excited to rethink, from the ground up, how millions of users in India can become owners of smartphones. This effort will unlock new opportunities, further power the vibrant ecosystem of applications and push innovation to drive growth for the new Indian economy,” Google said in a blogpost

“This partnership comes at an exciting but critical stage in India’s digitisation. It’s been amazing to see the changes in technology and network plans that have enabled more than half a billion Indians to get online,” it added.

Google on its own had earlier attempted to roll out an affordable smartphone through its Android One programme.

“We have sold over 100 million 4G feature phones till date. We believe we can design entry level 4G and 5G smartphones at a fraction of cost. Google and Jio are partnering to build an Android smartphone operating system for India,” Mukesh Ambani said adding that the target is make India “2g mukt”.