Reliance Industries shares slip sharply; what is weighing on sentiment?

RIL share price: Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) declined over 1.5% on Wednesday, July 9, amid reports of the conglomerate delaying the much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of its telecom and digital giant Reliance Jio Platforms.

It further stated that Jio wants to achieve higher revenues and a bigger subscriber base for its telecom business and expand its other digital offerings so that its valuation can increase further before an IPO. At present, analysts have valued it at over $100 billion.

Shares of Reliance Industries were trading at ₹1,514 apiece on the National Stock Exchange, down 1.53%.

Reliance Jio is expected to be the largest IPO in the history of India, surpassing Hyundai Motor India’s IPO worth ₹27,870 crore ($3.3 billion) in October 2024. Reliance Jio’s IPO would not only break Dalal Street’s records but could also boost investor confidence in India’s equity markets.

According to media estimates, Reliance Jio may roll out an IPO of around ₹35,000 - ₹40,000 crore, marking a landmark event in the Indian capital markets. The telecom giant is targeting a massive ₹10 lakh crore ($120 billion) valuation. Other IPO specifics, like issue size, remain under wraps.

The IPO was reported to hit the markets in the second half of 2025. 

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, Reliance Jio added 2.7 million new users in the month of May.

At the end of May 2025, Jio’s total subscriber base stood at 475.11 million as compared to 472.41 million at the end of April. Jio’s market share rose marginally to 40.92% from 40.76% in April. 

Meanwhile, according to analysts tracking the firm, Reliance Jio is on track to become the world’s largest Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) provider by subscriber base, surpassing US-based T-Mobile.

Reliance Jio’s total 5G FWA subscriber base, including unlicensed band radio (UBR), reached 6.88 million in May. T-Mobile had 6.85 million subscribers in March.

The telecom firm reclassified about 1 million UBR subscribers under its FTTx category in May, leaving its net FWA subscriber base at 5.9 million. The company added 0.74 million FWA customers during the month.