Jio Platforms Ltd, the digital arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, on Friday filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), kicking off the process for what could potentially be the country’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) so far.
The company is looking to raise capital through a fresh issue of 270 million equity shares with a face value of ₹10 each. The IPO will have no offer for sale from existing investors.
Jio plans to use up to ₹27,500 crore from the IPO funds raised to prepay certain borrowings availed by its material subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL).
People directly aware of the matter told Mint that Jio Platforms plans to raise additional capital of ₹4,500–7,500 crore for general corporate purposes (GCP), which pegs the company’s total IPO size at ₹32,000–35,000 crore.
The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd filed its draft papers on 17 June, pegging the size of its IPO at ₹30,000 crore, as per unlisted market valuations, with a valuation of more than ₹5 trillion.
“By anchoring its issue with a massive ₹27,500 crore debt-repayment component, Reliance Jio’s capital structure dictates the ultimate scale of this IPO,” said Amit Tungare, managing partner at law firm Asahi Legal.
“Under Sebi regulations, because GCP cannot exceed 25% of a fresh issue, the regulatory math automatically benchmarks Jio’s minimum offering size at roughly a scale higher than NSE,” Tungare added. “From a capital markets perspective, this strategic allocation model ensures that Jio will not just outsize NSE’s IPO size, but fundamentally rewrite the record for India’s largest-ever public debut.”
Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Citi Research have pegged Jio Platforms’ valuation at around $133 billion, implying a 13 times multiple on its estimated 2026-27 enterprise value against its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda).
Last week, in a record-setting IPO, Elon Musk-owned SpaceX raised $75 billion.
The developments assume significance as the proposed US-Iran peace deal may also revive India’s IPO market, with investment bankers expecting a stronger second half of 2026, Mint reported on Thursday.
Currently, Reliance Industries Ltd holds a 66.43% stake in Jio Platforms, Meta Platforms 9.98% through affiliate Jaadhu Holdings LLC, and Google International LLC 7.73%.
KKR & Co and Vista Equity Partners Management LLC hold another 2.31% in Jio Platforms each through affiliate funds. Silver Lake holds 1.88%, Mubadala Investment Co holds 1.85%, while General Atlantic and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority hold 1.34% and 1.16%, respectively.
Jio has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., Morgan Stanley India Co., BofA Securities India Ltd, Axis Capital Ltd, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. Ltd and Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, among others, as book running lead managers, the investment banks that run and control the IPO process, especially pricing, demand building, and allocation. The shares are proposed to be listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE, according to the draft papers.
Financial Performance
The DRHP offers the most detailed view yet of Jio Platforms’ financial and operating performance.
For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of ₹1.47 trillion, up 14.6% year-on-year. Ebitda rose 18.8% to ₹76,225 crore, while net profit increased 15% to ₹30,053 crore.
In the March quarter, net profit rose nearly 13% to ₹7,935 crore. Revenue from operations grew 12.6% to ₹38,259 crore.
Average revenue per user (Arpu), a key metric for telecom operators, stood at ₹214 for Jio as of March end. This trails Bharti Airtel’s Arpu of ₹259 per month, while Vodafone Idea’s Arpu was ₹172 per month, as of December end.
Arpu reflects how much revenue each subscriber contributes and signals an operator’s ability to monetize its customer base.
Beyond telecom
Jio Platforms has evolved beyond its telecom roots into a broader digital ecosystem spanning connectivity, broadband, enterprise services and applications. The company sits at the centre of Reliance’s strategy to build an integrated consumer technology platform combining telecom, retail and digital services.
The company’s telecom business under Reliance Jio is the largest by subscriber market share in the country. As of March end, Jio’s subscriber base stood at 524.4 million.
The IPO papers will now undergo regulatory review. Following Sebi’s observations, the company will proceed with the next steps toward listing.
On Friday, shares of Reliance Industries closed 1.25 % lower at ₹1,311.50 on the NSE.
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