Jio Platforms, the Indian telecommunications and digital services arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, is set to make its stock market debut on Wednesday.
The Jio public offering – the first from Mr Ambani's group in 20 years – was the most subscribed public offering in Indian history, drawing $77bn in bids.
The $3.2bn IPO closed with subscriptions at over 22 times the total shares on offer, with institutional investors bidding for over 70 times the shares on offer for them.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, BlackRock and Fidelity were among the big names to invest in Jio's IPO.
The listing will give investors a direct stake in a business owned by Mr Ambani that has become central to India’s rapid expansion of mobile internet and digital services.
Here are things to know about the company and its market debut
Jio Platforms is the digital arm of Reliance Industries, the conglomerate led by Mr Ambani. Its businesses span telecommunications, broadband and digital services, including entertainment and enterprise technology.
Jio entered India’s mobile market in 2016 with aggressively priced data plans, making internet access more affordable for millions of people. Its expansion transformed a sector that once had numerous competing operators, forcing rivals to respond to lower prices and eventually contributing to market consolidation.
By 2026, Jio had more than 530 million mobile customers and accounted for about 60 per cent of India’s wireless data traffic, according to brokerage Geojit, citing company figures. Meta and Google are among its major investors.
Jio Platforms’ offering is valued at approximately $3.2bn. The company offered 270 million new shares, representing about 2.9 per cent of its post-issue equity capital.
The shares are scheduled to trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), the country’s two principal stock exchanges.
The offering is also significant for Reliance, whose shares have traded publicly for decades but whose digital and telecommunications business is now being separately valued by the market.
Reuters reported that strong demand for Jio’s IPO could translate into gains when its shares begin trading on Wednesday.
It said that the unofficial grey market is signalling a potential 22 per cent premium over the issue price of Rs 1,119 rupees ($11.76) a share, although such indications are not a reliable predictor of listing-day performance.
Jio’s enormous customer base offers opportunities to increase revenue as India’s appetite for mobile data grows. The company is also seeking to expand beyond connectivity into areas such as cloud computing, enterprise services and other digital businesses.
Nitya Shah, co-founder of KamayaKya wealth management, told the BBC: “The era of Jio using cheap tariffs as a market-share weapon is drawing to a close.
“A listed Jio must answer to minority shareholders… which structurally reduces its incentive to keep pricing suppressed.”
Sneha Poddar, vice-president of research at Motilal Oswal wealth management, said long-term investors could consider buying Jio shares at the IPO price or at levels 5-10 per cent higher.
“From a long-term point of view, IPO price or 5-10 per cent higher levels are also reasonable levels to enter,” she said.
She added that expectations of imminent telecom tariff increases were providing a positive near-term boost to the sector, saying “anticipation of imminent telecom tariff revisions provides positive near-term momentum”.
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