Ambani’s Jio makes Mumbai debut, surges 21% to a valuation of $131.5 billion

Shares of Reliance Jio Platforms, controlled by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, began trading on the Mumbai stock exchange on Wednesday and rose 21%. The company’s market capitalization reached about $131.5 billion, making Jio India’s second-largest company by this measure.

Opening well above the offer price

The shares opened at 1,358 rupees, compared with the offer price of 1,119 rupees. By market value, Jio overtook Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank. Only Reliance Industries is ahead of it.

India’s largest companies by market value (in billions of dollars):

Company

Market capitalization

Reliance Industries

169.37

Jio Platforms

131.52

Bharti Airtel

128.69

HDFC Bank

109.13

ICICI Bank

103.56

One of the world’s largest mobile operators

Jio serves more than 530 million customers. Its shareholders include Meta Platforms and Alphabet’s Google. By subscriber count in a single country, Jio is second only to China Mobile.

This is the Reliance conglomerate’s first public listing in twenty years. The event also reinforces Ambani’s strategy of transforming Reliance from an oil and chemicals business into an “everything company” spanning consumer products and technology.

The Ambani family at the ceremony

Mukesh Ambani, his wife Nita Ambani, his eldest son and Jio managing director Akash Ambani, as well as his other children Isha and Anant Ambani, attended the listing ceremony at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai. The family rang the IPO bell on stage. During his speech reflecting on the journey of Reliance and Jio, Mukesh Ambani could not hold back tears.

On Wednesday, leading Indian newspapers carried front-page advertisements on behalf of Reliance Jio reading “Thank you, India.”

Analysts: room for growth, but risks remain

Several brokerage firms see upside potential in Jio shares. At the same time, they cited competition, high capital expenditure and changes in telecom regulation, including issues related to spectrum, licensing and fees, as risks.

Kranthi Bathini, equity strategist at WealthMills Securities, said Jio made a strong debut despite geopolitical challenges and tense market conditions. In his words, earnings and profits will determine the stock’s performance going forward.

India leads the world in IPO activity

According to LSEG data, India has become the world’s busiest IPO market this year with 246 deals. By the amount of money raised, however, the country ranks fourth at $13.5 billion, behind the US, China and Hong Kong.