Jio shares climb 28% after record-breaking market debut

Record-breaking IPO attracts 22 times subscription

The initial public offering consisted of 270 million shares priced at ₹1,119 each, raising 302 billion rupees, or about $3.2 billion. This offering was subscribed 22.19 times the number of shares on offer, according to data from the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Economic Times provides real-time BSE and NSE quotes licensed from the exchanges with timestamps in Indian Standard Time. The publication lists a meeting agenda for Reliance covering quarterly results and fundraising, and asks whether Reliance appears on analysts' top-rated companies list.

Foreign Institutional Investors hold $717 billion of Indian stocks but are trimming exposure across 56% of Nifty 500 companies. ITC, Reliance Industries, and HDFC Bank were noted as the biggest laggards when the Nifty dropped more than 12% in 2026. No peer suggestion is provided for Reliance stock.

Market debut valuation reaches Rs 13.18 lakh crore

The stock opened at 1,358 rupees per share.

On its debut, the company reached a market capitalization of 12.5 trillion rupees, or approximately $131 billion.

Yahoo Finance reported the valuation at approximately $131.52 billion, placing the firm as the second-largest Indian company by market capitalization, surpassing Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank.

Nomura issues buy rating with 1,340 rupee target

Nomura assigned a buy rating to Jio Platforms with a target price of 1,340 rupees. This target represents a 19.7% upside from the initial public offering price.

Nomura reported that the company's capital expenditure cycle is mostly finished. This completion leads to expectations of a significant improvement in free cash flow.

Analysts weigh Jio growth against Bharti Airtel returns

Arora noted that the company's current scale suggests low double-digit annual returns are a reasonable expectation for investors.

He also observed that historical average revenue per user growth in India has been uneven, driven by tariff hikes in 2019, 2021, and 2024 that required coordination among all three telecom operators. "Until Jio's valuation reflects a more grounded growth trajectory rather than scale alone, Bharti Airtel remains the stronger investment story," Arora said.

Ratiraj Tibrewal, director at Choice Capital Advisors, identified Jio as a scale-and-growth story and Bharti Airtel as a quality-and-returns proposition.

"Investors with a longer investment horizon and a higher risk appetite can consider Jio, while those prioritising earnings visibility and capital discipline may prefer Airtel," Tibrewal said.

Institutional demand and future index inclusion plans

Global funds including BlackRock, Capital Group, and GIC participated in the anchor book portion of the fundraise, which is reserved for large institutional investors before public bidding opened. Including these anchor investors, the total demand for the share offering reached $78 billion.

Reliance Industries owns more than 66% of Jio Platforms, while Meta Platforms' affiliate Jaadhu Holdings holds nearly 10% and Google International holds 7.7%, according to LSEG data.

Choksey added that investors who bought Jio shares around 2021 may look to exit in about six months, by which time the stock is expected to be part of the MSCI index and the Nifty 50.

Reliance Industries maintains top sector ranking

Reliance Industries Limited holds the number one rank in market capitalization within the Diversified sector. The company has a market capitalization of Rs 1,576,405 crore.

Founded in 1973, the firm is classified as a large-cap entity.

The listing of Jio represents the first time in two decades that Reliance Industries has had a new listing.

Operational scale and regulatory support for listing

Jio provides telecom services to over 530 million customers.

Regulators relaxed IPO rules for very large companies to facilitate the listing.

On Wednesday, 28 October 2026, Reliance Jio published front-page advertisements in major Indian newspapers with the message "Thank you, India".