Jio IPO draws $77 billion in bids, sets India record

Bids for Jio Platforms' initial public offering topped $77 billion on Friday, 23 October 2026, making the Jio IPO the most subscribed share sale in India's history. Reuters reported the figure after bidding closed, with public subscriptions exceeding 22 times the shares on offer. The Jio IPO passed the record set by Reliance Power's 2008 offering, which came from the group led by Mukesh Ambani's younger brother, Anil Ambani.

The $3.2 billion offering values Jio Platforms at up to $108.3 billion, which would place it among India's largest companies by market capitalisation when trading starts on Wednesday, 28 October. Jio Platforms runs a mobile network that serves more than 500 million users in India. The sale is Reliance Industries' first public issue since 2006, and it is led by Mukesh Ambani's eldest son, Akash Ambani. Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google are among its longest-standing investors.

Shares were priced between 1,065 rupees and 1,119 rupees. At the top of that range, public bids alone would have exceeded $51.5 billion, and the anchor book added $25.6 billion, taking total demand past $77 billion. The anchor allocation covered $854 million of shares, with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, BlackRock and Fidelity among the anchor investors.

Jio IPO subscription in numbers

Public subscriptions for the Jio IPO exceeded 22 times the shares on offer, with demand from institutional investors, retail investors, employees and shareholders. If bids were placed near the 1,119 rupee top of the price band, public demand alone would have exceeded $51.5 billion. Anchor investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, BlackRock and Fidelity, placed bids of $25.6 billion for the $854 million of shares set aside for them. The offering drew more than 13.8 million applications, the most ever recorded for an Indian offering. By comparison, Chinese memory chip maker CXMT's $8.6 billion IPO, Asia's biggest this year, attracted around 9.4 million accounts.

Jio IPO demand built fast

The Jio IPO was fully subscribed within about two hours of opening on Wednesday, an unusually fast start for an Indian share sale, where institutional orders often arrive in the final hours. Kranthi Bathini, equity strategist at WealthMills Securities, said: "This is a Reliance IPO after a long time, which is triggering a lot of exuberance and euphoria for the stock." The timing of the sale during the Hindu festive season, viewed as lucky for investments, also formed part of the backdrop. Reuters described the Jio IPO as a test of investor appetite for large listings at a time when stocks linked to artificial intelligence face increased scrutiny.

Jio IPO trading begins on Wednesday

Trading in the company's shares is set to begin on Wednesday, 28 October, when the company will join the list of India's largest listed firms if the top-end valuation holds. The final amount raised and the allocation of shares to applicants will follow the offer's terms, since bids measure demand at proposed prices rather than money already invested. Investors will watch the first days of trading for a read on how the market values a telecoms and digital business with more than 500 million mobile users. The offering closed on Friday with demand far above the shares on offer, and the listing will show whether that demand carries into the secondary market.

The offering is Reliance Industries' first public issue since 2006, and the response marks a return to the primary market for the group after two decades. The record set by Reliance Power in 2008 had stood for 18 years before the Jio IPO passed it. Trading will test whether the subscription demand translates into support for the share price once the stock lists.