Brands
Jio dials up a record as IPO is bid 22 times over
Rs 30,213 crore issue becomes India’s biggest, with institutions bidding 70 times their quota
MUMBAI: The line was busy. Everyone wanted a piece of Jio.
Jio Platforms closed its Rs 30,213 crore initial public offering on Friday, 23 October, with the issue subscribed 22.19 times overall as of 7.30 pm. Investors put in bids for 438 crore shares against 19.75 crore on offer. It is the largest IPO India has seen, ahead of Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,858 crore offering.
The start was just as quick. The issue was fully subscribed within 100 minutes of opening on Wednesday. Most Indian IPOs build slowly, with institutions waiting for the last hours to show their hand. Jio did not wait for anyone.
Institutions led the charge. Qualified institutional buyers bid 70.55 times their quota of 4.90 crore shares. Non-institutional investors came in at 14 times, Reliance shareholders at 7.6 times and employees at 2.93 times. Retail investors were the calmest of the lot at 2.72 times against 8.50 crore shares reserved for them.
The money tells its own story. Bids excluding the anchor book crossed Rs 4.9 lakh crore, the highest ever for an Indian IPO, and past the mark set by Reliance Power in 2008. Add the anchor book, which raised Rs 8,110 crore on 19 October from investors including LIC and BlackRock, and total demand touched about Rs 7.4 lakh crore. A Reliance official told Reuters the issue drew more than 13.8 million applications, a first for India. China’s CXMT, whose $8.6 billion listing is Asia’s biggest this year, drew around 9.4 million.
The price band was Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 a share. At the top end, Jio is valued at about Rs 10.3 lakh crore, or roughly $108.3 billion. The issue is entirely fresh, with no offer for sale, and up to Rs 27,500 crore of the proceeds will go towards repaying borrowings of its subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm. Retail investors had to bid for at least 12 shares, or Rs 13,428.
The grey market is humming. Premiums ranged from Rs 238 to Rs 253 a share, or 21 to 22.6 per cent, hinting at a listing price between Rs 1,357 and Rs 1,372. Treat that with care. The grey market is unofficial, and the numbers can swing wildly before the bell.
The books look healthy. In FY26, revenue from operations rose to Rs 1.46 lakh crore from Rs 1.28 lakh crore. Net profit climbed to Rs 30,049 crore from Rs 26,109 crore, and EBITDA to Rs 76,255 crore from Rs 64,170 crore. Average revenue per user stood at Rs 215.6 in the June quarter. Reliance Jio Infocomm served 533.3 million customers as of June 30. At the upper band, the valuation sits below Bharti Airtel’s trailing earnings multiple of about 40.7 times, though differences in profitability and business mix matter.
Brokerages are upbeat. They point to Jio’s commanding place in telecom, improving profitability, and room to grow in broadband and artificial intelligence. Management says it wants to offer more services rather than lean on tariff hikes.
Allotment is expected to be finalised on 26 October . Shares list on the BSE and NSE on 28 October . Jio will be the 13th listed company in the Reliance group, and a listing at the upper band could lift the group’s combined market value to about Rs 28.35 lakh crore, ahead of the Tata group.
Now comes the real test. On 28 October, the market decides whether Jio’s call goes through.
