Bankers value Reliance's Jio Platforms as high as $170 billion ahead of IPO

By P R Sanjai, Baiju Kalesh and Julia Fioretti

 

Investment bankers are proposing a valuation of as much as $170 billion for Jio Platforms Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter, ahead of what could be a record-breaking initial public offering for Reliance Industries Ltd.’s wireless carrier.

 

A valuation that size would place Jio among the biggest two or three companies in India by market capitalisation, ahead of fellow telecom firm Bharti Airtel Ltd., which is valued at about ₹12.7 trillion ($143 billion). Reliance Industries, controlled by Mukesh Ambani, is far ahead at about ₹20 trillion.

 

Talks with bankers are ongoing and the proposals for Jio range as wide as $130 billion to $170 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. 

 

Ambani, Asia’s wealthiest person, said in August the Jio listing could happen in the first half of 2026. It’s been years in the making, considering he spoke about a potential IPO as far back as 2019. Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. announced investments totaling more than $10 billion in Jio the following year. 

 

Jio’s share sale is set to be Reliance’s first public offering of a major business unit since Reliance Petroleum Ltd.’s debut in 2006. 

 

While it was initially expected the Jio IPO could raise over $6 billion, smashing the record $3.3 billion offering by Hyundai Motor India Ltd. in 2024, the amount is likely to be lower following a change to Indian listing regulations.

 

Under the revised rules, companies with a post-listing market capitalization exceeding ₹5 trillion need to offer shares worth at least ₹15,000 crore and dilute only 2.5% of equity. For Jio, that would amount to about $4.3 billion if it achieves the top-end valuation proposal. 

 

Details of Jio’s offering are still being discussed, the people said.

 

A Reliance representative didn’t immediately comment. 

 

Jio had about 506 million subscribers as of the end of September and average revenue per user was ₹211.4  in the quarter through that month, while Bharti Airtel’s subscriber base was about 450 million with average revenue per user of 256 rupees.

 

Reliance’s digital services business posted a 17% year-on-year jump in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — a measure of operating profit — in the July-September quarter. That was buoyed by Jio’s expanding 5G footprint and subscriber base crossing 506 million — underscoring the growth momentum behind the proposed IPO valuation.