TL;DR
Jio Platforms has filed for a $3.8 billion IPO, India’s largest ever, with $2.9 billion earmarked to pay off the telecom unit’s foreign currency debt.
Jio Platforms, the digital and telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, It submitted a draft red herring prospectus to India’s securities regulator on Friday what would be the country’s largest initial public offering. The filing involves a fresh issue of up to 270 million shares with no tender offer component, meaning every rupee raised goes directly to the company’s balance sheet.
The IPO is expected to raise about $3.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. This will surpass Hyundai Motor India’s sales of $3.3 billion in October 2024, which is currently the record for an Indian girl offering.
DRHP notes that 275 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) of the net proceeds will be used to prepay external commercial debt held by its telecom subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm. The remaining funds are earmarked for general corporate purposes.
The debt funds in question consist of three loan funds denominated in dollars and yen in the amount of 300.6 billion rupees. Lenders include Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas and Citibank. All three facilities are scheduled to be repaid between March and June 2028, but Jio Platforms intends to prepay them in whole or in part from the IPO proceeds.
Ambani made the announcement at Reliance Industries’ 49th annual general meeting on June 19, describing the listing as a step to unlock value for shareholders. The IPO will be led by Akash, Isha and Anant Ambani, the next generation of the family.
Nineteen banks have been appointed as lead book-running managers, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Kotak Mahindra Capital.
A neutralization strategy is important. Jio Platforms’ net debt stood at 275.8 billion rupees as of March 2026, down from 452.7 billion rupees a year ago and 484.4 billion rupees in March 2024. A successful IPO will eliminate the bulk of the remaining foreign exchange risk and reduce the company’s annual service costs.
The company said paying down the debt in the prospectus will improve its ability to raise future resources for business development and position it for continued investments in 5G network densification, fixed broadband expansion, artificial intelligence and cloud services.
Jio Platforms operates through its telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is the world’s second largest mobile operator by single country subscribers after China Mobile. As of March 2026, it had 524.4 million subscribers, of which 268.5 million are already on 5G. the largest single-country 5G operator outside of China in a market race to expand its digital infrastructure.
In the fiscal year ending March 2026, Jio reported operating revenue of about 1.47 trillion rupees ($15.6 billion) and net profit of about 300 billion rupees ($3.2 billion). EBITDA increased by 18.8% to 762.6 billion rupees and margin increased to 51.9%.
At a valuation above $130 billion, which analysts estimate is between $131 billion and $180 billion, the IPO will make Jio Platforms one of the most valuable companies to list in Asia. The offer represents about 2.9% of the post-issue capital provided by a March 2026 regulatory change that allowed companies above 5 trillion rupees to list with just 2.5% of outstanding shares.
Meta owns 9.99% and Google 7.73%, both acquired in 2020 in a fundraising round that attracted more than a dozen global investors, including KKR, Vista Equity Partners, Silver Lake and the sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. The fresh issue structure means that none of these investors sell in the IPO, although the DRHP does not restrict future secondary sales after the end of lock-up periods.
The timing places Jio’s filing alongside a broader wave major Asian tech listings. At the same AGM, Ambani announced a $110 billion AI infrastructure investment over seven years and announced a partnership with Meta to build an AI data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat. By clearing the foreign currency debt balance, IPO proceeds would free up capacity for these liabilities.
India’s wider push technological self-reliance and sovereign AI infrastructure adds a geopolitical dimension to the list. Jio has positioned itself as a pillar of India’s digital economy, and its 5G and AI ambitions coincide with the government’s aim to reduce dependence on foreign technology platforms.
Existing Reliance Industries retail shareholders will get a special quota in the offer, with up to 35% of the issue reserved for retail investors. The price range, lot size and bid dates have not yet been announced, which is standard at the DRHP stage. These will be followed once SEBI publishes its observations and Jio submits its final prospectus.
The draft document does not specify the total size of the IPO in rupee terms, as the issue price will be determined through book building. However, based on the 270 million share figure and current valuation estimates, the offer is expected to be in the Rs 360 billion range.
