Jio's mega IPO: Akash Ambani eyes huge share of India's $1.4-trillion digital economy by 2031

Jio Platforms expects to capture a substantial share of India's projected $1.4-trillion digital economy by FY31, its chairman Akash Ambani said on Thursday, as the company prepares for what could be the country's largest initial public offering.

"We see a $1.4-trillion digital economy by FY31," Ambani said at a presentation ahead of the IPO, adding that Jio's end-to-end technology stack gave it the capability to capture a huge share of the expanding market.

Jio carries over 60% of India's data traffic and offers data services at among the lowest prices globally, he said.

"Our pricing per GB stands at the lowest anywhere in the world," Ambani said.

He highlighted that average data consumption on Jio's network stood at 43.7 GB per customer per month.

The company, which began operations in 2016, now serves more than 530 million Indians, he said.

Ambani said Jio has built an end-to-end technology platform spanning mobile connectivity, home broadband, devices, operating systems and applications.

"The most important unit of our business is our customers," he said.

Ambani also cited Jio's 5G rollout, saying the company had built the world's largest 5G network outside China and completed the fastest migration from 4G to 5G.

The company's average download speed stands at nearly 200 Mbps, about twice that of other operators, he said.

He said the company's focus on affordability and network quality had helped transform India from a data-scarce nation into a data-abundant one over the past decade.

Jio Platforms has fixed a price band of ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 per share for its IPO, which could raise about ₹30,213 crore at the upper end, making it India's largest public offering.

The issue will open for subscription on October 21 and close on October 23, with anchor investor bidding scheduled for October 19.

The shares are expected to list on October 28.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of up to 27 crore equity shares, with no offer-for-sale component.

The proceeds will go to the company, including for prepayment of certain borrowings of its material subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm and general corporate purposes.

At the upper end of the price band, the issue would surpass Hyundai Motor India's ₹27,858.75-crore IPO in 2024, which currently holds the record for India's largest public offering.

According to the draft prospectus, Jio Platforms' consolidated revenue from operations rose 14.6% to ₹1,46,885 crore in the financial year ended March 2026, while net profit increased 15.1% to ₹30,049 crore.

Its EBITDA rose 18.8% to ₹76,255 crore, with a margin of 51.91%.

The company had more than 524 million subscribers and an average revenue per user of ₹214 in the March 2026 quarter.

Reliance Industries held a 66.43% stake in Jio Platforms before the IPO, while Meta and Google together held about 17.7%, according to the draft prospectus.