Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms launches India’s mega IPO amid market slump

Mukesh Ambani, India’s second-richest man, is preparing to take Jio Platforms public in what could become the country’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO), even as a downturn in the stock market casts a shadow over investor sentiment.

The Mumbai-based telecommunications giant, backed by global technology majors Meta Platforms and Google, aims to raise up to 302 billion rupees (£2.4 billion), with a targeted valuation of 10.3 trillion rupees. The share sale opens to retail investors on Wednesday and closes on Friday, marking a significant milestone in India’s rapidly evolving digital economy.

Established a decade ago as a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, the conglomerate controlled by the Ambani family, Jio is led by Akash Ambani, Mukesh Ambani’s eldest son.

Ahead of the public offering, Jio secured commitments from 212 anchor investors, including some of the world’s most prominent financial institutions. Among them are BlackRock, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity Investments, Schroders, JP Morgan Asset Management, Franklin Templeton, Invesco and Prudential.

According to a filing by Reliance Industries, Jio has fixed its share price between 1,065 and 1,119 rupees, with up to 270 million new shares on offer. The conglomerate has also encouraged its more than 400,000 employees to participate, offering them a discount of 54 rupees per share.

At the upper end of the price range, Jio would become India’s fourth-largest listed company, behind Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank. Its valuation would more than double the 4.9 trillion rupees at which it was valued when Meta and Google invested in 2020, although it falls considerably short of earlier expectations exceeding £110 billion.

The offering comes as India’s benchmark Nifty 50 index has declined by more than 12 per cent this year, reflecting the challenging conditions confronting equity markets.