Mukesh Ambani's Jio IPO has become the talk of the town after the telecom giant attracted bids worth 1,522.94% more than its public issue size of Rs 30,213 crore. The Jio IPO received unprecedented investor demand and a record number of applications. It also emerged as the fastest-subscribing IPO among large-sized issues in Indian market history. From being dubbed the "Mother of All IPOs" to attracting the highest-ever bid value, Jio Platforms is set to make history. Its listing could be the icing on the cake for Ambani, Reliance Industries and investors.
Rs 49,03,40,00,00,000 in Bids: Highest Ever
By the end of the final day of the public offer, Jio IPO had attracted bids worth Rs 4,90,340 crore against its issue size of Rs 30,213 crore – 1,522.94% higher than the issue size.
Approximately 1,38,65,863 applications were submitted for Jio IPO, according to a Kotak report. Overall, the IPO was subscribed 22.19 times, with the strongest demand coming from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), whose portion was subscribed 70.55 times. The non-institutional investor (NII) and retail individual investor (RII) portions were subscribed 14 times and 2.72 times, respectively. The employee and shareholder categories were subscribed 2.93 times and 7.60 times, respectively.
The IPO was open for subscription from October 21 to October 23, at a price band of Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 per share. The proceeds will be used to fully or partly repay outstanding borrowings of Jio's material subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL), and for general corporate purposes.
Why Is Everyone Talking About Jio IPO?
Backed by India's largest company and a fundamentally strong business, Jio IPO's performance in the primary market over three days was unprecedented. Here are some of the records it set.
With an issue size of Rs 30,213 crore, Jio became the largest IPO in Indian history, surpassing Hyundai Motor India, which held the record with its Rs 27,870 crore issue in 2024.
Jio also attracted unprecedented fundraising demand.
Starting with anchor investors, the company saw aggregate institutional demand of over Rs 2.50 lakh crore - a first for any Indian IPO.
More than 200 anchor investors bid for Rs 8,110 crore worth of shares in Jio IPO, with demand reportedly reaching 30 times the amount offered, signalling strong confidence from long-term investors.
From wealthy families to banks and global investors, major institutions sought a stake in Jio. These included sovereign and pension funds such as LIC, GIC, ADIA, QIA, Norges, PSP, California State Teachers Retirement System, Florida Retirement System, SBI Pension (NPS Trust), HDFC Pension, ICICI Pension and UTI Pension.
Domestic and global investors included SBI MF, ICICI Pru MF, HDFC MF, BlackRock, Capital Group, Fidelity Management & Research, Schroders, JPM AM, Birla MF, Kotak MF, Nippon MF, Allianz, T. Rowe Price and Prudential. Leading Indian family offices, including Enam, Premji, Zerodha and HCL, also participated.
Jio's overall IPO performance drew exceptionally strong demand across investor categories.
Jio received nearly 1.4 crore applications, making it the first IPO globally to cross this mark.
The QIB category was subscribed 70.55 times, with bids worth Rs 3,86,901 crore for 3,45,75,57,456 equity shares - the highest among India's five largest IPOs.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have been net sellers in the broader Indian market, invested an eye-catching Rs 1,38,674 crore in Jio IPO alone. According to StockEdge data, FII outflows from Indian equities had reached a record Rs 4.54 lakh crore year-to-date. Jio stood out by attracting strong FII demand amid heavy selling in the broader market.
Although Jio IPO was entirely a fresh issue, existing shareholders also stepped up their investments. The shareholder category attracted bids worth Rs 19,000 crore.
Retail investors bid for shares worth Rs 25,867 crore, the highest among the top 10 largest IPOs. In fact, retail demand for Jio exceeded the entire issue sizes of some IPOs, including NSE, LIC India, Paytm, Tata Capital and Coal India.
Jio Breaks Coal India Record, Becomes Fastest-Subscribing IPO
Jio became the fastest-subscribing IPO, reaching full subscription within just 100 minutes of opening on October 21.
With an oversubscription of 22.19 times, Jio outperformed all other mega IPOs in the top 10 list. Previously, Coal India held the record for the most subscribed mega IPO, with its Rs 15,199.44 crore issue in 2010 receiving 15.20 times subscription.
Among the top 10, Hyundai Motor India's Rs 27,858.75 crore IPO in 2024 was subscribed to 1.93x, while the Rs 22,563 crore NSE IPO in 2026 received 4.3x subscriptions. LIC's Rs 20,557.23 crore IPO in 2022 was subscribed 2.05 times. HDB Financial Services' Rs 12,500 crore IPO is now the third-best performer, with a 13.07x subscription, behind Jio and Coal India.
Jio IPO to See a Banger Listing?
Jio Platforms' estimated valuation upon listing is expected to range between Rs 10 lakh crore and Rs 12 lakh crore. At the upper price band, its pre-IPO valuation stands at around Rs 10.30 lakh crore. Some estimates suggest the valuation could rise above Rs 11 lakh crore after listing, with the highest estimates reaching around Rs 12.36 lakh crore on the BSE and NSE.
At a market capitalisation of Rs 10.30 lakh crore, Jio would become one of India's most valuable companies. However, the claim that Reliance would become India's biggest business needs to be assessed against the market valuations of major listed groups.
Jio's scale alone may not be enough to overtake its biggest rival, Airtel. Against Jio's implied valuation of Rs 10.30 lakh crore, Sunil Mittal-backed Bharti Airtel has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 11.8 lakh crore. To overtake Airtel, Jio would need to cross the Rs 11.9 lakh crore mark, or Airtel's valuation would have to fall.
Jio's competitive strengths include its connectivity scale, improving monetisation, operating leverage, and opportunities in digital services and AI. According to a Motilal Oswal note, investors should consider the following factors before the listing.
Jio has become India's largest digital connectivity platform, with 533 million subscribers and around 60% of the country's wireless data traffic. Its extensive 5G network and 14 million JioAirFiber customers provide a strong foundation for future growth.
The Reliance-backed telecom arm's revenue and profit after tax (PAT) grew at compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 16% and 18%, respectively, over FY24-FY26, reaching Rs 1.47 lakh crore and Rs 30,049 crore. EBITDA margins improved to 51.9%, while revenue and EBITDA in the June 2026 quarter grew around 11.8% and 15% year-on-year, respectively.
Jio's average revenue per user (ARPU) increased from Rs 181.7 in FY24 to Rs 214 in FY26 and further to Rs 215.6 in the June 2026 quarter. Higher data consumption, tariff hikes and fixed broadband expansion offer scope for further growth.
Its proprietary 5G technology, 7,220 patent applications and offerings across cloud, enterprise services and AI provide additional growth opportunities. However, Motilal Oswal noted that connectivity remains the core earnings driver, while the monetisation of newer digital services has yet to be demonstrated at scale.
Accordingly, analysts advised long-term investors to monitor Jio's ARPU growth, tariff hikes and progress in monetising digital services.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations expressed are solely those of the individual analysts or entities and do not reflect the views of Goodreturns.in or Greynium Information Technologies Private Limited (together referred as "we"). We do not guarantee, endorse or take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any content, nor do we provide any investment advice or solicit the purchase or sale of securities. All information is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should be independently verified from licensed financial advisors before making any investment decisions.
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