Jio Shares Surge 21% on Market Debut After $3.2 Billion IPO

Jio Platforms shares rose 21% at Wednesday's stock market debut after the company raised $3.2 billion in India's largest and most subscribed IPO. Jio is billionaire Mukesh Ambani's India-based telecom and digital services unit, with backing from Meta and Google. Investor bids for the offering exceeded $77 billion.

Shares began trading at ₹1,358 (about $14), compared with an IPO price of ₹1,119 (around $12). The opening price gave Jio a valuation of roughly ₹12.5 trillion (around $131.9 billion). Jio became India's second-most valuable listed company, behind parent Reliance Industries. Reliance Industries has a valuation of approximately ₹16 trillion (around $168.6 billion). Jio's valuation reached up to ₹4.91 trillion (about $65 billion at the time) when Meta and Google invested in 2020.

The IPO accepted subscriptions from October 21 to 22. Exchange data showed bids totaling 22.19 times the number of shares offered. Applications came from more than 13.8 million people. The record subscription level reflected strong investor demand for India's largest telecom operator. The IPO comprised only newly issued shares, and none of Jio's existing investors sold shares through the offering.

Jio plans to allocate up to ₹275 billion (about $2.9 billion) of the proceeds to repay debt at telecom subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm. Jio plans to allocate the remaining proceeds to general corporate purposes. Jio's total borrowings stood at ₹613.7 billion (around $6.5 billion) on June 30.

Jio earned a profit of ₹300.5 billion (about $3.2 billion) during the fiscal year ending in March 2026. Jio recorded revenue of ₹1.47 trillion (around $15.5 billion) for that fiscal year. Each measure increased by about 15% compared with the previous year. Jio's revenue increased nearly 12% in the June quarter. Jio's profit increased 9% in the June quarter.

Jio entered India's crowded telecom market in 2016 with free data and inexpensive services. Those offers helped Jio rapidly attract customers from established operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and state-owned BSNL. Jio subsequently became India's largest telecom operator. Jio Platforms managing director Akash Ambani said at Wednesday's listing ceremony that Jio's platforms serve over 540 million customers. Jio now charges prices broadly comparable to competitors' prices. Jio has also expanded into broadband, cloud services and AI.

Akash Ambani, Mukesh Ambani's eldest son, has assumed greater responsibility at Jio as Mukesh Ambani gradually transfers more responsibility to Reliance's next generation of leaders. Akash Ambani said at the listing ceremony that Akash Ambani wants Jio to become a global technology company. Akash Ambani expressed the ambition for Jio Platforms Limited to rank among the world's great technology companies.

Jio attracted billions of dollars from American investors during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Meta, then operating as Facebook, invested $5.7 billion. Google invested $4.5 billion. General Atlantic, Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners also backed Jio.