Shares of oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries jumped as much as 2.86 per cent to hit an intraday high of ₹ 2,014.25 on the National Stock Exchange. Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday hinted at rolling out 5G telecom services in the second half of 2021 and said policy steps are needed to accelerate the early rollout of ultra-high-speed 5G services that are affordable and available everywhere. “In order to maintain this lead, policy steps are needed to accelerate the early rollout of 5G, and to make it affordable and available everywhere,” he said. “I assure you that Jio will pioneer the 5G Revolution in India in the second half of 2021.”

5G is the fifth generation mobile network that enables connecting virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.

Mr Ambani, whose four-year-old telecom venture Jio has captured the top spot offering free voice calling and data at dirt-cheap rates, also pitched for developing hardware manufacturing in India, saying the nation cannot rely on imports in such a critical area.Jio and other service providers such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea offer 4G services. The country however also has a 2G network that supports only voice calling and text messaging.

“As many as 300 million mobile subscribers in India are still trapped in the 2G era,” he said.

As of 1:45 pm, Reliance Industries shares traded 1.99 per cent higher at ₹ 1,997, outperforming the Sensex which was up 0.94 per cent. Reliance Industries was the top contributor towards gain in the Sensex. It contributed over 100 points towards the Sensex.