Jio Platforms Jumps 21% in Mumbai Debut After Record $3.2 Billion India IPO

Jio Platforms shares climbed 21% in their Mumbai debut on Wednesday, opening at 1,358 rupees against an offer price of 1,119 rupees, following India's largest-ever initial public offering. The listing gives Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries its first new listing in two decades. Jio, whose telecom business serves more than 530 million customers, is now valued at about $131.52 billion, becoming India's second-largest company by market capitalization after its parent, Reliance. It overtakes Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank. The unit is backed by Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google. The IPO adds to Ambani's push to transform Reliance from an oil-and-chemicals conglomerate into an "everything company" spanning consumer and technology. India has been the world's busiest IPO market this year by deal count with 246 listings, though it ranked fourth by proceeds at $13.5 billion, LSEG data showed. Brokerages called the $108.3 billion valuation attractive but flagged competition, heavy capital spending and changes to India's telecom rules as risks.