Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) | ₹8,109.84 Cr Anchor Round (IPO ₹30,187.6 Cr)

Group: Reliance

Sector: Telecom / Digital Services

What they do

→ Digital and telecom arm of the Reliance group, with Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) as its subsidiary

→ Q1 FY27 consolidated net profit rose 9.2% YoY to ₹7,764 Cr, from ₹7,110 Cr

→ Operating revenue up 11.8% to ₹39,173 Cr, with gross revenue up 12% to ₹45,961 Cr

The IPO

→ Raised ₹8,109.84 Cr from 212 anchor investors by allotting 7.25 Cr shares at ₹1,119, the upper end of the band

→ Public issue opens October 21 and closes October 23, price band ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 per share

→ Issue is entirely fresh, 27 Cr equity shares, making it the largest IPO India has seen

→ ₹500 Cr reserved for employees (₹54 per share discount) and ₹2,500 Cr for eligible Reliance Industries shareholders

Why it matters

→ Domestic mutual funds bought ~2.48 Cr shares across 95 schemes, including SBI MF, HDFC MF, ICICI Prudential MF, Kotak MF and Aditya Birla Sun Life MF

→ LIC, HDFC Life, SBI Life and ICICI Prudential Life joined, along with global names like BlackRock, Fidelity, Allianz, GIC, ADIA and Goldman Sachs

→ Most of the proceeds go to repaying debt at Reliance Jio Infocomm, with the rest for general corporate purposes

→ Puts a ₹10.3 lakh crore valuation at the upper end of the band under public market scrutiny

With most of the money going to repay debt, is the Jio IPO a growth story or a balance sheet clean-up?