Investment

Reliance Jio IPO could be India’s biggest ever

Reliance Jio IPO could be India’s biggest ever

The formal listing of Indian telecommunications giant Reliance Jio Infocomm is still months away but the recent announcement by the chair of parent company Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, of plans to list India’s largest mobile network next year will probably continue to make headlines until the the initial public offering (IPO) actually happens.

The main reason for this is that the IPO, planned for the first half of 2026 (a specific date has not yet been revealed), could be the country’s biggest to date. The current record is apparently held by Hyundai Motor India’s IPO in October 2024 but the Reliance Jio float is likely to overtake and possibly even double the return of an IPO that raised about US$3.16 billion.

Jio launched just under ten years ago and, after attracting subscribers with a price-slashing strategy, is now, alongside Bharti Airtel, one of India’s two dominant mobile operators.

Analyst estimates of the value of the company vary wildly, from US$112 billion to (according to an Economic Times headline) US$154 billion. One analyst, quoted by the UK’s Financial Times, suggests that the float itself could raise about US$6 billion. However, there are, so far, no indications from Reliance itself on how much could be raised or what valuation Jio is seeking.

There will be strong local interest in the IPO, which could further boost the funds its raises. The FT points out that India’s middle classes have shown a taste for funnelling household savings into the country’s stock markets.

The FT also notes that technology giants Alphabet and Meta, along with global private equity firms KKR, General Atlantic and sovereign wealth funds, have ploughed billions of dollars into Jio.

Meanwhile, of course, Jio is the number one mobile operator in a vast market where only four operators – the other two are Vodafone Idea and BSNL – have a significant presence. Jio has already past the 500 million subscriber mark, making it the second largest operator globally after China Mobile.



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