The offering is set to become India’s largest-ever IPO and marks Reliance’s first public listing in 20 years. The listing is a key part of Ambani’s long-term vision to transform Reliance Industries from an oil-and-chemicals giant into an “everything company” spanning consumer businesses, retail and technology.
Institutional investors have driven much of the demand. Exchange data showed that qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) bid for 9.78 times their allotted portion. Retail investors, who have approximately one-third of the issue reserved for them, fully subscribed to their allocation within the first two hours of the second day of the three-day bidding process. Their bids reached 1.29 times the quota.
The IPO has also attracted strong participation from retail investors in India’s primary market, largely on the strength of the Reliance brand, whose influence extends well beyond Jio Platforms’ telecommunications business, according to an analyst tracking the offering.
For many Indian families, Reliance shareholdings have long served as a trusted nest egg. Shares of the Mumbai-traded company have risen around 330-fold since 1990. When Ambani announced the listing in June, he described it as “a deeply emotional moment for me, for the entire Reliance Family, and millions of its shareholders.”
Jio has helped bring streaming, digital payments and online services within reach of millions of Indians through low-cost data and free voice calls. The company’s next phase of growth focuses on 5G, home broadband, cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.
The IPO’s first day of public bidding also saw an unusually strong response. The overall offering was subscribed within 90 minutes of opening, led by institutional investors who secured their portion within minutes. Such an early response is rare for an IPO of this scale in India, where large offerings typically attract the bulk of their bids in the final hours.
The offering has drawn attention as an indicator of global investor appetite for new listings, particularly as companies linked to artificial intelligence face tougher scrutiny from investors. Around 90% of Jio Platforms’ revenue comes from its telecommunications business.
The IPO values Jio Platforms at up to $108.3 billion. The company could become one of India’s largest companies by market capitalisation when its shares begin trading on October 28.
Jio’s telecommunications business, led by Mukesh Ambani’s son Akash, was built on a major bet in 2016: that inexpensive data would encourage Indians to spend substantially more time online. Low prices and free voice calls rapidly attracted subscribers away from rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
Today, more than 500 million Indians subscribe to Jio. The company operates India’s largest telecommunications network and ranks second only to China Mobile among telecommunications carriers serving a single country.
The strong subscription figures on the second day of bidding underline the scale of investor interest in Jio Platforms as Reliance pursues its broader transformation across consumer services, retail and technology. The October 28 listing will be a significant milestone for the group as it seeks to build on Jio’s telecommunications base and expand into digital services.
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