Jio Platforms, the Indian telecom and digital services company owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, experienced a 21% increase in share price during its stock market debut on Wednesday. The company raised $3.2 billion in what has become India's largest and most subscribed initial public offering (IPO), attracting over $77 billion in investor bids. The shares were priced at ₹1,358 (approximately $14) at opening, significantly higher than the IPO price of ₹1,119 (around $12), valuing Jio at about ₹12.5 trillion (around $131.9 billion). This makes it India's second-most valuable listed company, following its parent, Reliance Industries, which is valued at around ₹16 trillion (approximately $168.6 billion).
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In 2020, the valuations of Jio reached up to ₹4.91 trillion (around $65 billion) with investments from major players like Meta and Google. The IPO, which took place from October 21 to 22, garnered bids that were 22.19 times the number of shares available, according to exchange data, with over 13.8 million applicants, marking it as the most subscribed stock offering in India to date.
Jio launched in 2016, entering a competitive Indian telecom market and quickly gaining customers by offering free data and low-cost services, surpassing established operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and state-owned BSNL. Today, it is the largest telecom operator in the country. Akash Ambani, Jio Platforms' managing director, noted at the listing ceremony that the company serves over 540 million customers. Although Jio's pricing is now comparable to its competitors, the company has diversified into broadband, cloud services, and artificial intelligence.
As Mukesh Ambani transitions more responsibilities to the next generation of leadership within Reliance, Akash has increased his involvement with Jio. He expressed his ambition for Jio to become a global technology leader, stating, "My dream is that one day, when the world counts its great technology companies, one of them will be from India, and that company will be called Jio Platforms Limited."
In the fiscal year ending March 2026, Jio reported a profit of ₹300.5 billion (about $3.2 billion) on revenue of ₹1.47 trillion (around $15.5 billion), reflecting a 15% increase from the previous year. For the June quarter, revenue grew nearly 12%, and profit rose by 9%. The company plans to allocate up to ₹275 billion (about $2.9 billion) from the IPO proceeds to reduce debt at its telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm, with the remainder aimed at general corporate expenses. As of June 30, Jio’s total borrowings amounted to ₹613.7 billion (around $6.5 billion).