Jio IPO: Bankers planning to value Mukesh Ambani's telecom company as high as...; know details inside

Months after Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani announced that the Jio listing could occur in the first half of 2026, investment bankers are now proposing a valuation of as much as USD 170 billion for Jio Platforms Ltd., Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the matter. Talks with bankers are ongoing, and the proposals for Jio range as wide as USD 130 billion to USD 170 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

Reliance Jio Record-breaking IPO

If launched at the proposed valuation, it could be a record-breaking initial public offering (IPO) for Reliance Industries' wireless carrier. A valuation of that size would place Jio among the biggest two or three companies in India by market capitalisation, ahead of fellow telecom firm of Sunil Mittal, Bharti Airtel Ltd., which is valued at about Rs 12.57 lakh crore. While Ambani's flagship company, Reliance Industries, is already far ahead at about Rs 20 lakh crore.

When will Jio be listed?

In August this year, Asia’s richest person, Ambani, said that the Jio listing could happen in the first half of 2026. It’s been years in the making, considering he spoke about a potential IPO as far back as 2019. Details of Jio’s offering are still being discussed, the people said.

Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. announced investments totalling more than USD 10 billion in Jio the following year. Jio’s share sale is set to be Reliance’s first public offering of a major business unit since Reliance Petroleum Ltd.’s debut in 2006. While it was initially expected that the Jio IPO could raise over USD 6 billion, smashing the record USD 3.3 billion offering by Hyundai Motor India Ltd. in 2024, the amount is likely to be lower following a change to Indian listing regulations.

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Under the revised rules, companies with a post-listing market capitalisation exceeding RS 5 trillion need to offer shares worth at least Rs 150 billion and dilute only 2.5 per cent of equity. For Jio, that would amount to about USD 4.3 billion if it achieves the top-end valuation proposal. A Reliance representative didn’t immediately comment.

Jio Subscribers

Jio had about 506 million subscribers as of the end of September, while Bharti Airtel’s subscriber base was about 450 million.