Reliance Industries Subsidiary Jio Platforms Announces Draft Prospectus for IPO
Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, has announced plans for an initial public offering (IPO) that analysts predict could become one of India's largest share sales. The board of the country's biggest telecom operator, boasting over 500 million subscribers, approved a draft prospectus for the listing.
Reports indicate that Jio Platforms expects to raise around $4bn from the IPO. This move follows a year-long wait for the company to go public, with Ambani having previously stated a listing target for the first half of 2026. The announcement provides momentum to India's capital markets, coming a day after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also filed papers for its own market debut, projected to raise over $3bn.
These combined listings would rival Hyundai Motor India's $3.3bn share sale two years prior, representing some of India's most significant IPOs in recent history. A successful offering from Jio is seen by investors and analysts as crucial for bolstering sentiment in India's IPO market following a period of reduced activity in new listings.
Jio, launched in 2016, rapidly expanded its user base through low-cost mobile data. The company has since diversified into cloud computing, enterprise services, and artificial intelligence. Earlier this month, Meta confirmed a lease agreement for capacity at an AI-enabled data centre under construction by Reliance in Gujarat, a continuation of a partnership initiated in 2020 with Meta's $5.7bn investment in Jio.
Investment bank Jefferies valued Jio at approximately $180bn in November, positioning it as one of the world's most valuable telecoms firms. The IPO marks the first major public offering by a Reliance business since Reliance Petroleum's listing in 2006.
