From Rs 1,000 in 1977 to Rs 52 lakh today: The Reliance wealth story behind Jio’s Rs 10.3 lakh crore mega IPO

ETMarkets.com

At the upper end of the proposed price band, Jio Platforms is expected to command a valuation of around Rs 10.3 lakh crore.

At the upper end of the proposed price band, Jio Platforms is expected to command a valuation of around Rs 10.3 lakh crore. The issue, comprising 27 crore equity shares through an entirely fresh offering, is scheduled to open on October 21, 2026, and close on October 23. Allotment is expected to be finalised on October 26, with a tentative listing on the NSE and BSE on October 28.

The offering would surpass Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,900 crore IPO in 2024 and become India’s largest-ever public issue.

For Reliance Industries, the IPO is also a valuation discovery exercise. RIL currently owns 66.43% of Jio Platforms, while Meta Platforms and Google hold 9.98% and 7.73%, respectively. The listing is expected to unlock value for RIL shareholders by establishing a market-discovered valuation for its telecom and digital businesses.

Of the IPO proceeds, Rs 27,500 crore is earmarked for debt repayment or prepayment. The remaining funds will be used for general corporate purposes.

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A new chapter in Reliance’s public market story

The Jio IPO comes almost 50 years after Reliance first accessed India’s equity markets. Reliance Textile Industries’ IPO in 1977 was oversubscribed seven times and is widely associated with the emergence of the equity investing culture in India. RIL listed its equity shares on the BSE on January 23, 1978.

At the time, Reliance offered shares with a face value of Rs 10 apiece. An investment of Rs 1,000 would therefore have bought 100 shares.

Over the following decades, Reliance announced six bonus issues. Based on the bonus history used in the calculations, those original 100 shares would have increased to 4,096 shares without any additional investment.

At an assumed current share price of Rs 1,160, the Reliance Industries holding would be worth approximately Rs 47.5 lakh.

The wealth creation extended beyond the parent company’s shares. In 2023, the demerger of Jio Financial Services provided eligible Reliance shareholders with shares in the financial services business.

Under the demerger arrangement, eligible shareholders received one Jio Financial Services share for every Reliance Industries share held on the record date. Based on the shareholding immediately before the demerger, the original investment would translate into 2,048 Jio Financial Services shares.

Together, the estimated value of the Reliance Industries and Jio Financial Services shares comes to about Rs 52 lakh. The calculation excludes cumulative dividends and any gains from reinvesting those payouts.

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From textiles to telecom and digital services

Reliance Industries was originally incorporated by the legendary tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani as Mynylon Limited. The company was incorporated on May 8, 1973, and later changed its name to Reliance Textile Industries Limited in March 1977. The company subsequently became Reliance Industries Limited in June 1985.

While its initial operations were focused on textiles and polyester-based businesses, Reliance has expanded across hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, advanced materials and composites, renewables, retail, digital services, and media and entertainment.

Jio Platforms represents one of the group’s most significant newer businesses. Its IPO will bring the telecom and digital services operations directly into the public markets and provide investors with a separate valuation benchmark for the platform.

Centrum Broking said Jio’s outlook remains strong, supported by rising data consumption, increasing 5G penetration, migration of subscribers to 5G networks and growth in fixed broadband.

The brokerage expects average revenue per user, or ARPU, to benefit from tariff increases, an improved subscriber mix, premium offerings and the continued monetisation of digital services.

“Expansion in home broadband (especially AirFiber), enterprise solutions, and AI-led digital services provides additional growth levers,” Centrum Broking said.

The brokerage added that Jio’s network leadership, infrastructure scale and expanding digital ecosystem position it for industry-leading growth over the medium to long term. It expects a tariff increase of around 12% over the next three to four months, which it said would support ARPU growth.

Nomura, however, said the listing would raise the performance bar for Jio.

“We believe that, following its listing, Jio will likely need to demonstrate growth to public shareholders,” Nomura said. “And, with the period of easy subscriber gains likely ending, tariff hikes might become the primary driver of earnings growth.”

That creates a sharper post-listing accountability framework for Jio. As a private group business, its expansion has largely been assessed through Reliance Industries’ consolidated performance and strategic disclosures. Once listed, investors will be able to evaluate subscriber growth, ARPU, 5G migration, broadband expansion, enterprise services and digital monetisation as standalone public market metrics.

The valuation test

At Rs 10.3 lakh crore, Jio Platforms would enter the market with a valuation that reflects both its existing scale and expectations of future growth.

The investment case rests on several operating levers: higher data consumption, 5G adoption, tariff hikes, premiumisation, home broadband, enterprise solutions and AI-led digital services. The central question for public investors will be whether these businesses can continue to deliver growth at a pace that supports the IPO valuation.

For RIL shareholders, the listing could provide a clearer market value for an asset that has been embedded within the conglomerate. For new Jio investors, it will mark the beginning of a separate public market journey.

Reliance’s first IPO transformed a textile company into a long-term equity wealth story. Jio’s offering now seeks to convert the group’s telecom and digital scale into a new listed market benchmark.