Reliance Industries’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL) on Monday announced that it has raised its shareholding in investee company skyTran Inc to 54.46 per cent. The additional equity stake was acquired for a consideration of $26.76 million (Rs 196.9 crore).

skyTran is a technology company incorporated under the laws of Delaware, United States of America (USA) in 2011. skyTran has developed breakthrough passive magnetic levitation & propulsion technology for implementing personal transportation systems aimed at solving the problem of traffic congestion globally, RIL said in a regulatory statement.

“Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (“RSBVL”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, announced that it has acquired additional equity stake in its investee company skyTran Inc. (“skyTran”) for a consideration of USD 26.76million increasing its shareholding to 54.46% on a fully diluted basis,” the filing said.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL, said, “Our acquiring majority equity stake in skyTran reflects our commitment to invest in building futuristic technologies that would transform the world. We are excited by skyTran’s potential to achieve an order of magnitude impact on highspeed intra and inter-city connectivity and its ability to provide a high speed, highly efficient and economical ‘Transportation-As-Service’ platform for India and the rest of the World.”

“We firmly believe that non-polluting high speed personal rapid transportation system will help facilitate environmental sustainability through efficient use of alternative energy and make an impactful reduction in air and noise pollution,” he added.

The proposed skyTran transportation systems would consist of computer-controlled passenger pods running on its state-of-the-art, patented Passive Magnetic Levitation technology and would use cutting edge IT, Telecom, loT and Advanced Materials technologies to transport passengers in a fast, safe, green, and economical manner.

The law firms Covington & Burling LLP and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP acted as legal counsel and IP counsel respectively to Reliance Industries.