Soon You Will Have One More MF Option As Jio Blackrock Mutual Fund Gets SEBI Nod To Launch Four Index Funds

Jio BlackRock Mutual Fund, the joint venture between Reliance's Jio Financial Services and global asset management giant BlackRock, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch four index funds. This marks a major step in the company's plan to expand its mutual fund offerings in India.

According to SEBI's website, the five approved funds are:

• JioBlackRock Nifty Midcap 150 Index Fund
• JioBlackRock Nifty Next 50 Index Fund
• JioBlackRock Nifty Smallcap 250 Index Fund
• JioBlackRock Nifty 8-13 yr G-Sec Index Fund

Out of these four, three are equity-oriented index funds, and one, the Nifty 8-13 yr G-Sec Index Fund, is a debt-oriented fund focused on Indian government bonds.

The equity index funds will be managed by Tanvi Kacheria, Anand Shah, and Haresh Mehta, while the debt fund will be handled by Vikrant Mehta, Siddharth Deb, and Arun Ramachandran. Each fund will offer only direct plans with a growth option. The minimum investment is Rs 500, whether through lump sum or SIP.

Jio Blackrock MF Sees Strong Market Entry

This approval follows a strong debut by Jio BlackRock in the mutual fund space. On July 7, the asset manager announced it had raised Rs 17,800 crore across three debt mutual fund schemes, JioBlackRock Overnight Fund, Liquid Fund, and Money Market Fund. These schemes attracted over 90 institutional investors and 67,000 retail investors, reflecting early confidence in the new entrant.

"The NFO, which closed on July 2, 2025, was one of the largest in India's cash/debt fund segment, placing JioBlackRock among the top 15 asset management companies by debt AUM," the company said in a statement.

Aiming to Disrupt MF Industry

Jio BlackRock aims to position itself as a low-cost, digital-first fund house, focused on making investing simple for first-time investors. By leveraging Jio's massive telecom network and BlackRock's Aladdin platform, the firm plans to offer differentiated, cost-effective products without relying on traditional distribution networks.

Reports suggest that the company plans to launch nearly a dozen mutual fund schemes, both equity and debt, by the end of 2025. The five recently approved funds are expected to be the first batch in this broader expansion.

What will be next?

With SEBI's approval, Jio BlackRock is now expected to announce launch dates and scheme offer documents for the five funds soon. The performance of each fund will be benchmarked against its respective index (TRI - Total Returns Index), and will follow a passive investment strategy, aiming to replicate the performance of their underlying indices, subject to tracking error.

This development marks another significant move by Jio BlackRock as it steps into India's Rs 72.2 lakh crore (approx. $844 billion) mutual fund industry, with plans to challenge incumbents on both pricing and scale.
However, shares of Jio financial Services closed at Rs 319.20, marginally down by 0.62% in line with today's flat market closure.