RIL Jio IPO ignites institutional appetite
New Delhi: Jio Platforms’ Rs 8,110-crore anchor book attracted bids worth around Rs 2.5 lakh crore, exceeding the amount on offer by more than 30 times, signalling strong institutional interest ahead of the company’s much-anticipated stock market debut.
Global asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, domestic mutual funds, insurers and pension funds participated in the institutional bidding, according to people familiar with the matter. Some large overseas investors and domestic institutions bid for allocations worth USD 750 million to over USD 1 billion each.
Most tier-one funds are expected to receive allocations of around Rs 400 crore to Rs 450 crore apiece, while a wider pool of investors could receive Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore each, they said.
Global asset managers in the book included BlackRock, Capital Group, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, Schroders, JPMorgan Asset Management, Franklin Templeton, Invesco and Janus Henderson. Sovereign and public investment institutions included Singapore’s GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Qatar Investment Authority and Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management.
Major domestic participants included SBI Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Nippon India Mutual Fund and Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company. Life Insurance Corporation of India, HDFC Life, SBI Life, SBI Pension Funds, HDFC Pension and ICICI Prudential were among the insurers and pension investors.
The IPO opens for public subscription on October 21 and closes on October 23. Jio Platforms is seeking to raise around Rs 30,213 crore at a valuation of approximately USD 108 billion. The price band has been fixed at Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 a share. The offering comprises up to 27 crore new shares and is expected to become India’s largest IPO. Proceeds will partly support debt repayment at its telecom subsidiary, alongside general corporate purposes, according to the offer documents.
Part of Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Jio Platforms has expanded beyond mobile connectivity into broadband, digital entertainment, cloud and enterprise services. Reliance Industries will retain a majority stake after the listing.
Jio had 533.3 million subscribers as of June 2026 and accounted for nearly 60 per cent of India’s data traffic, according to reported company figures.
The strong anchor demand highlights institutional appetite for the listing, although it does not guarantee similar demand from retail investors or determine post-listing performance. Investors will weigh Jio’s growth prospects against competition, regulatory risks and its ability to convert its vast subscriber base into sustained revenue growth.