Jio becomes India’s second-most valuable company at ₹12.5 lakh crore; Reliance Group overtakes Tata Group as top conglomerate

Jio Platforms has emerged as India’s second-most valuable listed company, with a market capitalisation of ₹12.50 lakh crore following its stock market debut today. The digital and telecom arm of Reliance Industries (RIL) now ranks behind its parent, valued at around ₹16.15 lakh crore, and ahead of Bharti Airtel, whose market capitalisation stood at ₹12.08 lakh crore.

Jio Platforms shares listed at ₹1,358 on both the BSE and NSE, a premium of 21.36% over the IPO price of ₹1,119. The listing marks a significant shift in the valuation pecking order of India’s telecom sector, with Jio overtaking Bharti Airtel in market capitalisation.

With this, Jio Platforms has also become the fourth founder-led business globally to surpass $100 billion in enterprise valuation at IPO.

The listing has also reshaped the rankings of India’s largest business conglomerates. With Jio Platforms adding to the Reliance Group’s listed market value, the group has overtaken the Tata Group to become India’s most valuable conglomerate, with a combined market capitalisation of over ₹28 lakh crore, compared with Tata Group’s ₹26 lakh crore.

Before Jio Platforms’ listing, the Reliance Group had 12 listed companies with a combined market capitalisation of more than ₹18 lakh crore. Reliance Industries, valued at around ₹16.15 lakh crore, accounted for the bulk of the group’s market value, followed by Jio Financial Services at approximately ₹1.35 lakh crore. Jio Platforms’ listing has added another major entity to the group’s listed portfolio, strengthening its position in the corporate valuation rankings.

The Adani Group ranks third, with a combined market capitalisation of more than ₹17 lakh crore, while the HDFC Group ranks fourth, at nearly ₹14 lakh crore. HDFC Bank, valued at ₹10.67 lakh crore as of October 23, is the largest contributor to the HDFC Group’s market value.

IPO sets new benchmarks

The ₹30,213-crore Jio Platforms IPO surpassed Hyundai Motor India’s ₹27,870-crore offering in 2024 to become India’s largest IPO by issue size. It also set a new benchmark for investor participation, attracting approximately 1.37 crore applications and becoming the first Indian public issue to cross the one-crore mark.

The issue was subscribed 22.19 times by the close of bidding on October 23, with investors bidding for 438.26 crore shares against 19.75 crore shares on offer. The strong response came despite sharp volatility in the secondary market amid sustained selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) emerged as the biggest driver of demand, bidding for 345.76 crore shares against 4.90 crore shares reserved for the category, excluding anchor investors. This translated into a subscription of 70.55 times, highlighting strong institutional appetite for the offering despite weakness in the broader equity market.

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