Reliance Jio’s MD Sandip Das quits

Sandip Das has stepped down as the managing director of Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance industries that will roll out 4G services this year.

Das will mentor the Jio division of Reliance Retail, which will develop the long-term evolution (LTE) ecosystem for RJio's growth in the telecom space, agency reports said.

“Reliance Retail is pioneering this LTE device ecosystem, building sales and distribution channels including retail stores,” reports said quoting a letter by Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, to the Reliance Retail team.

“Sandip Das will drive this initiative. To facilitate, Sandip Das will move from his role as managing director for Reliance Jio and join the board of Reliance Retail to mentor the Jio Division of Reliance Retail.”

In April 2013, Das became the MD of Reliance Jio. Before his stint with RJio, he worked with Maxis of Malaysia and Hutchison Essar in India. His role is crucial in bagging 3G and 4G (BWA) spectrum for telecom firm Aircel.

Recently, Mukesh Ambani’s two children, Yale-educated Isha and Brown University graduate Akash, joined the board of directors of Relince Jio.

Das said he had personally sought a shift in his role to mentor the Jio initiative of Reliance Industries.

“It will take the resources, deep conviction and substantial expertise of Reliance to build an LTE device ecosystem to a level similar to the availability of 3G devices. As Reliance Retail is building electronic goods sales stores and channels to pioneer and dominate this ecosystem, it will be a wonderful challenge for me to mentor this,” Das said.

Recently, Reliance Jio's services by the name of Jionet was soft launched during Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in Gandhinagar.