Reliance Jio charts out global expansion, transforming into deep-tech firm

Holding company Jio Platforms Limited to IPO in H1 2026

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will list its telecom services arm Reliance Jio by June 2026, even as the group plans to take Jio’s services to other global markets after having become India’s largest telecom services provider, clocking over 500 million users of whom 220 million were using 5G.

 

The public offer would be undertaken by Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), the holding company of Reliance Jio Infocomm, which also fully owns the telco, said people aware of the development.

 

“Today, it is my proud privilege to announce that Jio is making all arrangements to file for its IPO. We are aiming to list Jio by the first-half of calendar year 2026 (H1CY26), subject to all necessary approvals,” RIL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Mukesh Ambani said at the group’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday.

 

 

“I assure you this will demonstrate that Jio is capable of creating the same quantum of value like our global counterparts. I am sure that it will be a very attractive opportunity for all investors,” he added.

 

JPL had received investments totalling ₹1.52 trillion, or $20 billion, back in 2020, where it sold 32.97 per cent stake to more than two dozen investors led by Meta (then Facebook) and Google. RIL holds 66.5 per cent of JPL.

 

Jio could look at offloading 5 per cent stake through the public listing, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this month. While the equity sale would be smaller than the typical requirement of 25 per cent by markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), at current day valuations, the Jio IPO would be the biggest in India, said industry watchers.

 

“The largest IPO has been Hyundai at $3.3 billion. Jio's IPO will likely be the largest but its float may be limited given the size. There will be ample institutional investor interest,” said a senior industry executive, who did not want to be named.

 

Having begun in September 2016, Jio's revenue as of 2024-25 (FY25) stood at ₹1.28 trillion, or $15 billion, a growth of 17 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), with Ebitda of ₹64,170 crore, or $7.5 billion, Ambani said. Ebitda stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

 

In the quarter ended June 2025 (Q1FY26), JPL reported a net profit of ₹7,110 crore, up 24.9 per cent Y-o-Y, on revenue of ₹41,054 crore, up 18.8 per cent Y-o-Y. The telco’s average revenue per user (Arpu), a key metric of profitability, was ₹208.8, up nearly 15 per cent over the same period of FY25. However, it still lagged behind India’s second-largest telco Bharti Airtel, which had an Arpu of ₹250, the highest among peers. 

 

Based on the FY25 financials, Jefferies had pegged the valuation of Reliance’s telecom operations at $118 billion, according to a note in April this year. Bharti Airtel’s market capitalisation stood at ₹10.77 trillion, or over $12 billion, as of Friday.

 

Ambani also outlined the future road map for Jio, including plans of taking the company global. “Jio will expand its operations outside India, taking our homegrown technology to people around the world,” he said. He did not mention the geographies or new countries that Jio would potentially target, or whether its consumer or enterprise services will be taken to new markets. In comparison, Airtel has expanded into 15 African countries, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, over the past two decades. In February this year, the telco's promoter Bharti Enterprises, bought a 24.5 per cent stake in UK's British Telecom. 

 

Jio's global expansion will be done alongside covering the Indian market with mobile services, home broadband, and digital services — including Jio Smart Home, JioTV+, and Jio TV OS — and offering artificial intelligence (AI) as a platform to large as well as medium- and small-scale enterprises.

 

“Jio's transformation into a deep-tech company is now unmistakable. And we have done it on a technology stack that is designed, developed, and deployed entirely in India by Jio's own engineers,” Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said.

 

He noted that Jio had developed a digital-twin system of its physical infrastructure, using which it could activate gigabit (Gb) speed internet in under 24 hours across India. Akash added that JioAirFiber was now the world’s largest fixed wireless broadband service, adding over 1 million homes per month, which was being integrated with AI. Over 40 million people were using the Jio AI Cloud with up to 100 Gigabyte (GB) free cloud storage, which will have an AI-enabled search engine.

 

He also showcased JioFrames, an AI-powered wearable, using which people could take HD (high definition) photos, record videos or broadcast to online media. Akash did not reveal the launch time for JioFrames but added that it had a multilingual AI voice-assistant, and its storage was connected to Jio AI Cloud.