Jio Platforms’ Listing to Put Reliance’s Telecom Biz on its Own Scorecard, And the Parent Will Feel It Too

New Delhi: Until now, anyone wanting to know how Jio is doing has had to dig through the consolidated quarterly results of Reliance Industries (RELIANCE). That changes when Jio Platforms IPO lists. Its Rs 30,213 crore initial public offering (IPO) opens on October 21, closes on October 23 and is tentatively due to debut on October 28. After that, subscribers, data usage and network spending will be reported by Jio itself, every quarter. 

What the market will start tracking 

The starting numbers are big. An analysis of the offer document puts customers at Reliance Jio Infocomm, the material subsidiary, at 52.44 crore on March 31, 2026, with 26.85 crore of them on 5G. That is a little over half. The draft prospectus leans on an industry report to argue that Jio’s reach and engaged user base set it apart from rivals. 

Management has added figures of its own. Speaking at a media meet on October 15, Jio Platforms Managing Director Akash Ambani said the base had reached 53 crore, handling over 60 per cent of India’s digital traffic at 43.7 GB of monthly use per customer. Home broadband stands near 3 crore connections, he said, with the network passing close to 4 crore of roughly 30 crore households. About 40 per cent of new additions come from outside tier-I and tier-II cities. 

Revenue, according to Ambani, went from about Rs 1.09 lakh crore to above Rs 1.46 lakh crore in three years, a compound annual growth rate of 15.8 per cent. EBITDA climbed from roughly Rs 54,000 crore to more than Rs 76,000 crore, and the June quarter EBITDA margin was 53.3 per cent. A banker speaking for the company and its lead managers called the issue India’s largest IPO and noted that the country has gone from under 1 crore 4G users to 100 crore 4G and 5G users in a decade. Each of these will move from a presentation slide to a line in a filing, open to the same scrutiny as any listed company’s results. 

Also Read: Jio Platforms IPO: Journey of Reliance Industries from First Indian Company to Get Listed on BSE to Becoming India’s Most Valuable Company

A test for the parent as well 

For Reliance shareholders, the pitch is about valuation. One brokerage argues that a market price for Jio should make the sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) valuation easier to read and could shrink the holding-company discount that conglomerates usually carry. It rates RIL a Buy with a target of Rs 1,696, which it says is 46.7 per cent above its reference price, and suggests investors can follow Jio’s price discovery while staying exposed to retail, oil-to-chemicals and new energy. 

There is a catch. Transparency removes cover. A weak quarter for subscriber additions or margins used to be diluted inside group totals, but once Jio reports separately it will stand alone. The first few standalone results will set the benchmark against which the growth story is measured. 

The prospectus already supplies reference points. Revenue from operations was Rs 1,46,885.3 crore in FY26 and profit after tax Rs 30,049.1 crore, while net debt stood at Rs 9,539.1 crore, or 0.46 times EBITDA, on June 30, 2026. Of the proceeds, Rs 27,500 crore is earmarked to repay borrowings of Reliance Jio Infocomm, so early reports will also show how the balance sheet changes. 

Reliance cannot step away from that. It owns 66.43 per cent of Jio Platforms, ahead of Meta Platforms with 9.98 per cent and Google with 7.73 per cent. The offer is a fresh issue of 27 crore shares at Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119, after which the promoter and promoter group stake is expected to be 64.48 per cent. The parent keeps most of the upside and, if the numbers disappoint, most of the questions. Investors will also be able to compare Jio’s margins with the retail, oil-to-chemicals and new energy businesses that stay inside RIL’s consolidated results. 

An early pay cheque, and a nudge to apply 

Reliance Industries has paid October salaries about 15 days early while encouraging staff to consider investing in the IPO, Bloomberg reported. 

The company has contacted most of its nearly 420,000 employees across group companies about the estimated US$3.2 billion share sale, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Employees were not told why salaries came early. The outreach has reportedly included asking whether employees or their family members hold demat accounts, and urging those without one to open an account. 

Reliance Industries had 419,911 employees, according to Bloomberg data cited in later coverage, while the company’s website shows 74,822 at Jio. Eligible Jio employees can apply in the employee reservation category, which carries a discount under company filings. Other group employees can use the retail investor category, and eligible Reliance Industries shareholders have a separate reserved portion. 

Source

•  Bloomberg
• company filings
• offer document