Reliance’s Jio Platforms Moves Closer to IPO, Offer Set to Open October 21

According to Reliance, Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), the telecom and digital division of Reliance Industries, submitted its red herring prospectus on October 14, 2026, in preparation for what is anticipated to be the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in India.

With a face value of INR 10 per share, the initial public offering (IPO) can issue up to 27 crore equity shares. The signup period for the deal begins on October 21 and ends on October 23. October 19 is the date of the anchor investor bidding. The range for the share price stated by the firm is INR 1,065 to INR 1,119.

Jio’s Planning for the Listing

According to the filing, the band was approved during a meeting of Jio Platforms' board's IPO committee on October 14, 2026. A discount of INR 54 per share will be given to eligible employees who bid in the employee reserve section. Bids must be made for a minimum of 12 shares and then in increments of 12 going forward. An individual lot would cost INR 13,428 at the ceiling price. By my calculations, that amounts to INR 30,213 crore at the cap price. This is an 8% increase over the previous record-holder, Hyundai Motor India's INR 27,858.75 crore IPO in 2024.

 Also, at INR 20,557.23 crore, it's almost 47% more than the next biggest offering by the Life Insurance Corporation of India. In contrast to those two, Jio's plan is structured differently. The government's ownership of LIC and Hyundai's parent companies constituted an offer for sale. Because there will be no offer-for-sale component to the IPO, all of the money raised will stay inside the company instead of going to the selling shareholders.

On October 28, the shares are anticipated to be listed. According to the document, there are two allocated portions of the issue: one for eligible JPL workers (up to INR 500 crore) and another for eligible Reliance stockholders (up to INR 2,500 crore). Holders of Reliance shares as of October 14 include individuals and Hindu undivided families (HUFs).

Recent Financial Performance of Jio

In the year ending March 2026, JPL's consolidated revenue from operations increased 14.6% to INR 146,885 crore from INR 128,218 crore the previous year, as stated in the June draft prospectus. An increase of 15.1% from INR 26,109 crore to INR 30,049 crore was its net profit. In FY24, revenue was INR 109,558 crore, while profit was INR 21,423 crore. With an increase of 18.8% to INR 76,255 crore, the company's EBITDA margin increased to 51.91%.

More than 524 million people were paying customers in the March 2026 quarter, with an average revenue per user (ARPU) of INR 214. Return on capital employed dropped to 10.76%, while total borrowings reduced 3.1% year-on-year to INR 70,781 crore. Prepayment of certain borrowings of major subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) and general corporate purposes were mentioned in the draft prospectus as potential uses of the cash. Since this is a brand-new offering, all of the funds will be going toward the business rather than the selling stockholders.

Significant reliance on the promoter group was highlighted in the preliminary prospectus. In FY26, prepaid revenue through Reliance Retail accounted for 77.08% of consolidated revenue from operations. Jio's pre-paid services are distributed exclusively by Reliance Retail.