Reliance Industries's data services venture Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) has secured a $750 million loan backed by Korea Exim Bank and guaranteed by Reliance Industries (RIL). The company mentions that this loan will be primarily used to finance goods and services procured from Samsung Electronics for rolling out the infrastructure of RJIL. While the company hasn't disclosed any specific details on what goods and services it is procuring from Samsung, we're reminded of a source-based DNA report from December last year that had suggested that Reliance Jio had signed a deal with Samsung to procure BTS (Base Transceiver Station) infrastructure for its 4G rollout. Reliance Jio had reportedly signed a contract worth around $1.2 billion (Rs 7,500 crore) with the Korean company for supplying 70,000 BTS across India, of which 14,000 BTS (around 20%) had already been supplied. Reliance Industries was also earlier rumored to be in talks with Samsung to buy LTE handsets, but apparently that deal fell through over pricing issues, as Reliance Jio Infocomm wanted the handsets to be priced at Rs 5,500 while Samsung refused to go below Rs 8,500 along with a commitment that Reliance purchase 3 million handsets from them. Who is funding this loan? Of the $750 million, Korea Exim Bank is funding $440 million as direct funding and the remaining $310 million will be through a Korea Exim Bank covered guarantee by 11 banks that include The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Banco Santander,…
