New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) Jio Platforms Ltd’s Rs 30,213-crore initial public offering was fully subscribed within 100 minutes of opening on Wednesday, making it the fastest-subscribed mega IPO in India, with investors placing bids worth about Rs 69,800 crore for 62.36 crore shares by 5 pm, according to exchange data.
The issue, which is set to become India’s largest-ever IPO, was subscribed 3.16 times the 19.75 crore shares on offer, with institutional investors leading demand. The offering will remain open until October 23.
Taken together with the commitments by anchor investors earlier this week, the IPO has attracted about Rs 77,892 crore.
The total demand till now comes to Rs 3.20 lakh crore after considering bids made in the anchor round and public subscription.
On the opening day of the IPO, qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) bid for 46.15 crore shares against 4.90 crore shares reserved for them, representing 9.42 times subscription, according to the latest cumulative demand data.
Non-institutional investors bid for 6.13 crore shares, or 1.68 times their allocated portion.
Retail individual investors bid for 6.18 crore shares against 8.50 crore shares reserved for the category, translating into a subscription of 0.73 times.
This marks the highest retail demand for any IPO on day 1 in India’s capital market history.
The employee portion was subscribed 1.37 times, while the shareholder reservation portion attracted bids for 1.46 times its allocated portion.
It took just 100 minutes for shares on offer to be lapped up by investors when the IPO opened for subscription on Wednesday, stock exchange data showed.
The early pace sets Jio apart from other large Indian offerings.
Bajaj Housing Finance’s IPO was fully subscribed by 2 pm on its opening day, and LG Electronics India’s offering reached full subscription by the end of day 1 in 2025.
Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870-crore IPO, which held the previous record for India’s largest public offering, was subscribed just 18 per cent by the end of its first day in 2024.
Jio’s offering is also structurally different from those of Hyundai and LG Electronics, both of which were entirely offers for sale by existing shareholders. Jio is issuing up to 27 crore new shares, meaning the proceeds will go to the company rather than to shareholders selling their holdings.
Priced at Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 a share, the IPO would value Jio Platforms at about USD 108 billion at the upper end of the range. The offering is set to surpass Hyundai Motor India’s record and marks a landmark public-market test for the digital and telecom business of Reliance Industries Ltd, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
The IPO is a major test of investor appetite for Jio’s ambition to expand beyond telecom connectivity into digital services, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The company has cited a customer base of 533.3 million as a foundation for these businesses, seeking to convert its scale in connectivity into higher-margin enterprise and technology revenue.
The latest figures show institutional investors continuing to drive the offering, while retail demand is building more gradually. The final subscription figures could change before the offer closes on Friday.
The IPO comprises an entirely fresh issue of 27 crore shares, priced between Rs 1,065 and Rs 1,119 apiece. At the upper end of the price band, Jio Platforms will raise about Rs 30,213 crore and command a valuation of roughly USD 108 billion. Neither parent Reliance Industries Ltd nor its other existing shareholders are selling shares in the offering.
Jio Platforms had already raised about Rs 8,110 crore from 212 anchor investors on October 19, allotting shares at Rs 1,119 apiece, the upper end of the price band. The anchor book reportedly attracted bids exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh crore, more than 30 times the allocation available. Investors included global asset managers and sovereign wealth funds such as BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Moody’s Ratings said the IPO was credit positive for Reliance Industries because the proceeds would reduce debt and related servicing costs at its telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, while improving the group’s funding flexibility.
Jio Platforms plans to use up to Rs 27,500 crore of the proceeds to repay borrowings at Reliance Jio Infocomm, its wholly-owned subsidiary. The remaining proceeds will support capital expenditure, including investments in technology and digital services, and working capital requirements.
The debt repayment would reduce interest costs and help finance investments in telecom networks and digital services without increasing leverage, Moody’s said. The listing will also diversify Jio Platforms’ funding sources and broaden its access to domestic and international capital markets for future investments, acquisitions and strategic partnerships.
Reliance Industries owns 66.4 per cent of Jio Platforms before the IPO and will retain control after the listing.
Moody’s said Jio Platforms contributed 37 per cent of Reliance’s consolidated EBITDA in the financial year ended March 2026, underscoring the digital business’s importance to the parent company.
The final offer structure will determine the extent of dilution and the increase in minority interests. The listing is also expected to provide a clearer market valuation of Reliance’s digital business and improve transparency.
According to CreditSights, Reliance’s ownership in Jio Platforms is expected to decline to about 64.5 per cent after the IPO from 66.4 per cent currently, while it retains majority control.
Strategic minority shareholders, including Meta affiliate Jaadhu Holdings and Google, will also see their stakes diluted.
Jio’s growth priorities include 6G mobile services, home and satellite broadband, business-to-business data solutions, enterprise AI applications and digital commerce. Reliance is expected to house its data-centre development plans at the parent-company level rather than within Jio Platforms, CreditSights said.
The offer closes on October 23, with listing scheduled for October 28, according to CreditSights. PTI MBI ANZ BAL
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