Reliance Jio could file draft papers for its long-awaited initial public offering within days, according to a Financial Times report, potentially setting the stage for India’s largest-ever stock market debut.
The reported filing is expected just before Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani addresses shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.
For investors, the timing matters as Jio’s listing has been discussed for years, delayed more than once, and watched closely by global funds, retail investors and rival telecom operators.
A draft red herring prospectus, or DRHP, would move the IPO from promise to paperwork.
India’s biggest IPO test
Ambani first signalled plans to list Jio and Reliance Retail in 2019, when the group was still reshaping itself from an oil-and-chemicals giant into a consumer, telecom and technology powerhouse.
Jio had already changed India’s mobile market with cheap data and free voice calls. A public listing was seen as the natural next step.
But the timeline kept slipping as the market expected movement in 2024, then 2025.
Reliance eventually pushed the listing into 2026, partly because Jio’s scale made pricing difficult and partly because India’s primary market became more cautious.
At Reliance’s August 2025 annual general meeting, Ambani gave investors the clearest commitment yet.
“Jio is making all arrangements to file for its IPO. We are aiming to list Jio by the first half of 2026, subject to all necessary approvals,” Ambani said.
“I am sure that it will be a very attractive opportunity for all investors.”
That deadline is now approaching. The backdrop, however, is not straightforward.
IPO volumes in India have fallen sharply this year, while volatile global markets have forced companies such as PhonePe to delay listing plans.
That makes Jio’s move important not only for Reliance, but also for sentiment across the broader IPO pipeline.
What the IPO actually looks like
The Jio IPO is expected to be structured as an offer for sale, or OFS. That means the company itself will not raise fresh capital.
Instead, existing shareholders will sell part of their holdings to public investors.
That distinction matters as Reliance is not giving up control of Jio.
The deal is mainly designed to provide a partial exit to global investors who bought into Jio Platforms in 2020, including Meta, Google, KKR and sovereign wealth funds such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Reuters reported earlier that discussions centred on these investors selling around 8% of their individual holdings.
That would translate into roughly 2.5% of Jio’s total equity being offered in the IPO, with the final stake sale likely in the 2.5%–3% range.
“Total stake sale will be 2.5% to 3%,” one person aware of IPO plans told Reuters.
“Reliance wants to leave money on the table for retail investors and there is no decision yet on valuation of the company.”
The issue could be worth about $4 billion, depending on final pricing. Valuation is where the debate gets sharper.
Goldman Sachs has reportedly placed Jio’s bull-case valuation at about $154 billion. Jefferies has pegged it closer to $146 billion, while Macquarie and Emkay have been more conservative, around $121 billion to $123 billion.
The bull case is simple as Jio has scale, a large data network, 5G momentum and a growing digital services ecosystem.
The bear case is just as clear with its main competetior Bharti Airtel continuing to earn more from each mobile customer.
Airtel’s average revenue per user has been running around ₹257–₹259, while Jio reported ARPU of ₹214 in the March quarter.
That gap will matter when investors decide how much premium Jio deserves.
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