Jio Platforms Lands on the Market and Instantly Becomes India's No. 2 Company
India's biggest IPO ever just had the kind of first day most companies only dream about. Jio Platforms, the Reliance-backed telecom and digital services giant, opened Wednesday at ₹1,358 a share. That's about 21% above its issue price of ₹1,119, and it kept climbing.
By the close, the stock settled around ₹1,417 on both the BSE and the NSE, almost 27% above the price IPO investors paid. That pushed Jio's market value to roughly ₹13 lakh crore, making it India's second-most valuable company. Only its parent, Reliance Industries, is worth more. It now ranks ahead of heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
The demand wasn't a surprise if you looked at the offering. The roughly ₹30,200 crore ($3.2 billion) IPO was fully subscribed within about 100 minutes of opening on October 21. By the end, it was bid more than 22 times over and drew nearly 1.4 crore applications, a number reported as a world record. Big institutions were especially hungry, with their portion oversubscribed more than 70 times.
Analysts have a few reasons for the excitement. Nomura gave the stock a buy rating on listing day and argued that Jio's heavy spending phase is mostly behind it, so free cash flow should improve sharply from here. Its size also means it will likely be added to major benchmark indices, which could bring in steady buying from funds that track them.
The timing is interesting too. Jio debuted on a jittery day for Indian markets, with oil prices high and traders waiting on the U.S. Federal Reserve. Even so, the listing went off like a festival. For the Ambani family, and for the millions of retail investors who got shares, it was a very good Wednesday.
