Jio IPO puts digital growth, ambitions and home broadband success in focus

Jio Platforms, launched in 2016, is preparing for an initial public offering as it expands its digital and connectivity businesses. The public issue (IPO) opens on October 21 and closes on October 23, 2026, with the listing on October 28.

The IPO also brings Jio’s technology-led growth into focus, particularly its expansion in home broadband. While Bharti Airtel has been listed since February 2002 and has three decades of experience, Jio has built a large fixed-broadband business within about 10 years.

Technology drives home broadband expansion
India, with more than 30 crore homes, offers a large market for Fixed Wireless Access. Connecting every home through fibre can be costly because of civil works, permissions and installation requirements. Jio addressed the last-mile challenge by installing a receiver at the customer’s premises instead of providing a dedicated fibre connection.

For this service, Jio developed an in-house technology called UBR. By March 2026, JioAirFiber had connected about 1.3 crore homes. JioFiber and JioAirFiber together served 2.71 crore fixed-broadband subscribers, making the combined operation one of the largest globally.

Jio has combined its 5G network, software and infrastructure, in-house technology and digital-services ecosystem to offer broadband services at affordable prices and on a large scale. The company has consistently positioned itself as a technology business rather than only a telecom operator.

Airtel slows home connectivity push
Airtel, meanwhile, has struggled to achieve commercial viability in the home connectivity segment. In its latest communication to investors and analysts, the company acknowledged difficulties in attracting and retaining customers. It has slowed customer acquisition, increased its emphasis on fibre and adopted a more selective approach to FWA deployment.

The change comes about seven years after Airtel launched its fibre-to-the-home service under the Xstream brand. The contrasting strategies show how Jio has used technological development to build scale in fixed wireless broadband despite being the younger operator.

Jio IPO aims to raise Rs 30,213 crore
Jio’s fresh issue of 27 crore shares has a price band of Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 apiece and aims to raise up to Rs 30,213 crore. At the upper end of the band, the implied market capitalisation is about Rs 10.3 lakh crore, or roughly 34 times its FY26 earnings.

About Rs 27,500 crore from the proceeds has been earmarked to repay or prepay borrowings of Reliance Jio Infocomm. The remaining amount will be used for general corporate purposes.

Anchor book draws strong institutional demand
Jio’s Rs 8,110-crore anchor book received reported institutional bids of about Rs 2.5 lakh crore, more than 30 times the amount on offer. Participants included BlackRock, Fidelity, GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, along with Indian mutual funds and insurers.

On October 19, Jio shares commanded a reported grey market premium of about Rs 251 apiece, implying a premium of nearly 22 per cent over the upper end of the price band. The grey market premium is unofficial and does not guarantee the stock’s listing performance.

Subscriber scale and growth opportunities
As of June 2026, Jio had 53.33 crore subscribers and accounted for about 60 per cent of India’s wireless data traffic. Its operating revenue in FY26 stood at Rs 1,46,885 crore, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were Rs 76,255 crore, representing a margin of 51.9 per cent.

Brokerages have pointed to Jio’s pricing power and opportunities in 5G upgrades, home broadband, enterprise services and artificial intelligence. Philip Capital said the company had reshaped telecom through “disruptive pricing and differentiated offering”. SBI Capital Markets said the proposed debt repayment could lower leverage and finance costs, strengthen cash flows and provide flexibility for future investment.

Jio’s IPO places its scale, digital ecosystem and home broadband execution before public-market investors. The issue seeks to raise up to Rs 30,213 crore as the company builds on its 5G, fixed-broadband, enterprise and digital-services businesses.