Facebook is to invest INR435.74bn (about $5.7bn) for a 9.9% stake in Reliance Platforms, activating a deal that was reported last month but apparently put on hold by the pandemic crisis. Reliance Platforms is owned by conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL), and operator Reliance Jio is a subsidiary of Platforms. This is the biggest investment Facebook has ever made except for the $16bn acquisition of WhatsApp, and makes it the largest minority shareholder in Reliance Platforms (which is still primarily owned by RIL). The deal values Jio Platforms at INR4.62 trillion ($60.2bn). The deal will be important to the social media giant for a variety of reasons: It will strengthen its ability to reach the users of the world’s second largest…