Jio's ₹30,213 crore IPO, explained: what you're actually buying

On Wednesday 21 October, Jio Platforms opens what would be India's biggest IPO. At the top of its price band it can raise up to ₹30,213 crore, more than Hyundai Motor India's ₹27,858.75 crore in 2024 and the National Stock Exchange's ₹22,568.94 crore last month. Bidding closes on Friday 23 October. This is what is on offer.

A fresh issue, with no seller

The company is issuing up to 27 crore new shares at ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 each. There is no offer for sale, so no existing shareholder is cashing out. Every rupee goes to the company. Hyundai's and NSE's IPOs were the opposite: offers for sale, where the money went to the sellers.

The proceeds are mainly for repaying borrowings of its subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm, with the rest for general corporate purposes. One report puts the debt repayment at about ₹27,500 crore. Before the IPO, Reliance held 66.43% of Jio Platforms, and Meta and Google together held about 17.7%.

Who gets which share of the issue

The retail portion is the one most readers will bid in. A bid is made in lots of 12 shares. At ₹1,119, one lot costs ₹13,428. The retail maximum is 14 lots, or 168 shares, which is ₹1,87,992. Eligible employees get a discount of ₹54 a share.

What the anchor investors did first

On Monday 19 October, 212 anchor investors took about 7.25 crore shares at the top price, ₹1,119, for ₹8,109.85 crore. That is roughly 27% of the issue (FIN2DAY calculation). Of the 212, 85 were global funds, including sovereign and government-backed investors from Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Norway. The rest were domestic: 25 mutual fund houses and 22 insurers and pension funds, with LIC putting in ₹500 crore.

Banking sources told Business Today that institutional demand was above ₹2.5 lakh crore, more than 30 times the anchor allocation. Strong demand shows appetite. It does not fix a listing price.

The business behind the price

In the year to 31 March 2026 (FY26), Jio Platforms reported consolidated revenue of ₹1,46,885 crore and profit after tax of ₹30,049 crore. Revenue grew 14.6% and profit 15.1% over FY25 (FIN2DAY calculation).

The June 2026 quarter was slightly softer: revenue of ₹39,173 crore, up 11.8% from a year earlier, and profit of ₹7,764 crore, up 9.2% (FIN2DAY calculation).

What the price implies

At the top of the band, reports put the valuation at about ₹10.3 lakh crore. Against FY26 profit, that is roughly 34 times earnings (FIN2DAY calculation). Our P/E ratio explainer shows how to read that number. The reports do not say whether the valuation counts the new shares, so treat it as approximate.

On the same basis, ₹30,213 crore is about 3% of the company. An IPO buyer gets a small slice of a very large business.

Key dates

Questions worth asking before you bid

• PriceIs about 34 times earnings reasonable for a business growing profit at about 15% a year?
• Use of moneyMost proceeds repay debt rather than fund growth. That strengthens the balance sheet but adds no new capacity.
• SizeJio is the largest issue in India's history. Bigger does not always mean a better listing. See how Hyundai and LIC played out.
• Grey marketUnofficial grey market prices are not a guide. They are not regulated and can be wrong.

New to IPOs? Start with how an IPO works. Educational content only, not investment advice.