The Jio IPO grey market premium climbed to Rs 212 per share as Dalal Street counted down to what is set to become India’s largest-ever initial public offering, with the Reliance Industries subsidiary expected to open its Rs 30,000-crore-plus issue on October 21.
The unofficial premium, up from Rs 172 recorded on October 10, indicates a potential listing price of about Rs 1,331 against the reported upper price band of Rs 1,119 — implying listing gains of roughly 15 to 18 per cent for allottees.
Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Platforms is preparing a mega offering of up to 27 crore fresh equity shares that could raise as much as Rs 30,213 crore and value the digital and telecom giant at up to Rs 10.3 lakh crore, or about USD 106 billion. The Jio IPO is on track to dethrone Hyundai Motor India, which raised Rs 27,858.75 crore in October 2024, as the country’s biggest IPO.
Jio IPO: price band, dates and structure
The reported price band for the Jio IPO stands at Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 per share with a face value of Rs 10, though the final band was expected to be formally announced on October 15. The bidding window for anchor investors opens on October 19, followed by public subscription from October 21 to October 23. Allotment is tentatively scheduled for October 26, with listing on the BSE and NSE expected on October 28.
Crucially, the entire issue is a fresh capital raise, with no offer-for-sale component from existing shareholders. That distinguishes it from Hyundai’s record issue, which was purely an exit opportunity for its South Korean parent. The lot size is expected to be 13 shares, translating into a minimum retail investment of about Rs 14,547 at the upper band. Reliance Industries shareholders are expected to get a 10 per cent reservation quota, while Kotak Mahindra Capital is among the lead managers and KFin Technologies is the registrar. SEBI issued its final observations on the draft prospectus on August 28.
How the Jio IPO stacks up against Hyundai’s record
If it prices at the top of the reported band, the Jio IPO will comfortably surpass the largest offerings in Indian market history. Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,858.75-crore issue of October 2024, priced at Rs 1,865 to Rs 1,960 per share, currently holds the record, followed by the landmark listings of Life Insurance Corporation of India, One97 Communications, Tata Capital and the National Stock Exchange. Unlike Hyundai’s issue, the Jio IPO will channel the entire Rs 30,213 crore into the company rather than to a selling parent.
Analysts tracking the issue note that a successful listing at the indicated valuation would create one of India’s most valuable listed companies on day one. Nomura has estimated Jio’s implied enterprise value to EBITDA multiple for FY28 at 10.5 to 10.9 times at the proposed valuation, below the 12 times benchmark referenced for peers such as Bharti Airtel — suggesting the pricing leaves room for upside if execution holds.
Market watchers caution, however, that grey-market premiums are unofficial, can reverse quickly, and are not a reliable predictor of listing performance. The premium has fluctuated between Rs 148 and Rs 218 over the past eleven sessions, trending upward as the opening date approaches and retail interest builds steadily across brokerage platforms nationwide.
Jio Platforms sits at the centre of Reliance Industries’ digital empire, spanning telecom, broadband, cloud and digital services businesses. That scale, combined with a profitable and growing operating profile, is central to the bullish case analysts make for the issue — though they caution that execution on growth and capital allocation will determine whether the lofty valuation holds after listing. With the formal price band announcement due and the red herring prospectus expected early next week, the final terms of the Jio IPO will show how much of Dalal Street’s record IPO pipeline the market can absorb in a single week.