Jio Platforms shares jump 21% in Mumbai debut, India's biggest IPO

The debut

Shares of Jio Platforms, the telecom and digital unit of Mukesh Ambani's group, opened at ₹1,358 on Wednesday, 28 October, against an IPO price of ₹1,119. The Independent and TechCrunch put the first-day gain at 21%, while the Financial Times reported 22% shortly after trading began. At the opening price the company is worth about $131.5bn, which lifts it above Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank to second place among Indian companies by market value. The listing ceremony took place at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai, where the Ambani family rang the opening bell. Mukesh Ambani, 69, was seen in tears while his son Anant gave a speech tracing the journey of Reliance and Jio.

IPO price1,119

Opening price1,358

IPO price

1119 ₹ per share

Opening price

1358 ₹ per share

Data from the article text

Offering and demand

The offering ran from 21 to 22 October and raised $3.2bn, which the Financial Times called India's biggest-ever listing. Exchange data showed bids for 22.19 times the shares on sale from more than 13.8 million applicants. Total bids came to more than $77bn according to TechCrunch and more than $78bn according to the Financial Times. Jio had lowered its valuation target from $150bn in summer 2026, and the IPO values the company at about $108bn. By deal count, India has been the world's busiest IPO market in 2026 with 246 listings so far, though LSEG data ranked it fourth by money raised at $13.5bn, behind the United States, mainland China and Hong Kong.

Business behind the listing

In the fiscal year ended March 2026, the company booked profit of ₹300.5bn (about $3.2bn) on revenue of ₹1.47 trillion (around $15.5bn), with both figures up roughly 15% on the year before. Revenue grew nearly 12% and profit rose 9% in the June quarter. Akash Ambani told the ceremony that the platforms serve more than 540 million customers, while The Independent and the Financial Times used a figure above 530 million. Jio entered the telecom market in 2016 with free data and cheap services, drawing customers away from rivals such as Airtel, Vodafone Idea and the state carrier BSNL, and it is now the country's largest operator. It has since widened into broadband, cloud services and AI. Up to ₹275bn (about $2.9bn) of the proceeds is earmarked to pay down borrowings at the subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Market backdrop and cautions

The listing came during a slump in India's stock market, where the Nifty 50 index has fallen 14% this year as the war in Iran hits an economy that relies on oil and gas imports, according to the Financial Times. Several brokerages see upside in the Jio stock but warned about competition, heavy capital spending and changes to telecom rules covering spectrum, licensing and fees. Kranthi Bathini, an equity strategist at WealthMills Securities, pointed to the debut as evidence of strong demand.

“Jio has had a strong debut even despite geopolitical issues and turbulent market conditions”

He expects revenues and earnings to drive the share price from here.

Leadership and next steps

Akash Ambani, Mukesh's eldest son and Jio's managing director, has led the float as his father gradually hands more responsibility to the next generation. The IPO advances Mukesh Ambani's plan to turn Reliance from an oil and chemicals group into a business spanning consumer products and technology. When Meta and Google invested in 2020, Jio was valued at up to ₹4.91 trillion, about $65bn at the time. At the ceremony Akash said he hopes one day an Indian technology firm bearing the Jio Platforms name will stand among the world's leading technology companies.