Jio Platforms IPO: Will Ambani's ₹15 lk cr dream eclipse Airtel in India's biggest listing?

Mukesh Ambani is set for a major market moment with the proposed initial public offering of Jio Platforms, the telecom and digital arm of Reliance Industries Ltd that was launched in September 2016. The maiden stake sale could become the biggest primary offering in the Indian stock market. 

At the indicated valuation, Jio Platforms would be valued at about $160 billion, placing it ahead of its biggest peer, Bharti Airtel Ltd. According to sources, Jio Platforms is likely to raise $4 billion, or Rs 37,500 crore, from the IPO. The entire issue is expected to be a fresh sale of 27 crore equity shares. 

Based on a 2.5 per cent equity dilution, Jio Platforms is valued at nearly Rs 15 lakh crore, less than a decade after it began operations. Reliance Industries currently has a market capitalisation of Rs 17.75 lakh crore, while Bharti Airtel is valued at Rs 11.44 lakh crore. The proposed Jio Platforms IPO is being positioned as a record primary issue for the Indian market.   

Jio Platforms shall be first IPO by Reliance Group in nearly two decades, after Reliance Petroleum in 2006, which was later merged with the parent in 2009. Reliance CMD announced the Jio Platforms IPO in the previous AGM, while the issue was made official on Friday, paving the way for the listing of digital arm.

The filing says this amounted to a capital raise of Rs 1.52 lakh crore, or $20.3 billion, for about one-third stake in Jio Platforms in 2020. Global giants like Meta (Jaadhu Holdings) owning 9.99 per cent and Google International, holding 7.73 per cent, are staring at 3-4 times returns from their investment in Jio Platforms when the company was valued close to Rs 4.5 lakh crore.

Then, Jio raised Rs 43,574 crore from Meta and Rs 33,737 crore from Google. It also raised about Rs 74,745 crore for 15.2 per cent from global financial sponsors, sovereign investors and strategic investors, like Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, PIF, Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures. None of these investors are selling shares in the IPO.  

According to the DRHP, the net proceeds will be used mainly to repay or prepay outstanding borrowings of Rs 27,500 crore and for general corporate purposes. The filing says the capital raise is intended to support Jio Platforms' next phase of growth while strengthening its balance sheet. 

Jio Platforms is a nation-scale technology platform and a key part of India's digital economy, which it says is expected to reach $1.4 trillion by FY31. It served 524.4 million customers across consumers and businesses as of March 31, 2026. The buusiness is built on engineering and technology, with a wide suite of digital products and services, technology-led innovation across operations and future-ready network infra.

Jio Platforms said that since its launch in 2016, it has helped shift India from a data-scarce market to a data-abundant one through its all-IP 4G VoLTE network and data-led tariff model. In fiscal 2026, it said it carried about 60 per cent of India's wireless data traffic, while monthly data consumption stood at 42.3 GB per customer in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.

The filing says the company launched India's first standalone 5G network and had 268.5 million 5G subscribers as of March 31, 2026. It says the standalone 5G architecture supports higher speeds, low latency, network slicing, massive machine-to-machine communication, private 5G and other next-generation use cases.

In fixed broadband, Jio Platforms said it had 27.1 million home customers as of March 31, 2026, and a 67.56% share of net additions in fiscal 2026. The filing says its proprietary UBR technology allows rapid and low-disruption home broadband deployment with a fibre-like experience and supports the expansion of JioFiber and JioAirFiber.

On financial performance, Jio Platforms said revenue from operations rose to Rs 1,46,885 crore in FY26, rising 15.8 per cent CAGR in two years. EBITDA rose to Rs 76,255 crore, reflecting 17.8 per cent CAGR. Its Ebitda margins improved to 51.91 per cent in FY26, helped by scale benefits, proprietary technology, automation and network operating leverage.