Jio Platforms IPO to open October 21; GMP remains unofficial

Jio Platforms’ Rs 30,213-crore initial public offering is scheduled to open on October 21 and close on October 23, 2026, Economic Times Markets reported on October 19. The book-built offering comprises 27 crore newly issued equity shares, priced within a band of Rs 1,065–1,119 each.

The report puts the unofficial grey-market premium at Rs 251 a share, or 22.4% above the upper issue price. That implies a grey-market-based price of Rs 1,370—not an exchange price, an assured listing outcome or a guaranteed return. BharatVox has not independently verified the reported offer terms or grey-market quotation.

Subscription terms and expected listing

Investors would bid in lots of 12 shares, requiring Rs 13,428 for one retail lot at the upper price-band limit. Up to 46,94,835 shares are reserved for eligible employees, with a discount of Rs 54 per share to the issue price, according to the report.

The basis of allotment is expected to be finalised on October 26. Trading on the BSE and NSE is tentatively scheduled to begin on October 28; these are reported timetable dates rather than completed milestones.

KFin Technologies is named as registrar. The reported book-running lead managers include Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Morgan Stanley India Company, BofA Securities India, Axis Capital and other domestic and international financial institutions.

Debt repayment is the main use of proceeds

The company reportedly intends to allocate Rs 27,500 crore towards full or partial prepayment of certain outstanding borrowings of its material subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Any remaining net proceeds would go towards general corporate purposes.

The stated funding priority is therefore repayment of existing subsidiary debt, rather than a separately specified network-expansion programme. The allocation is a proposed use of funds, not evidence that repayment has already occurred.

Reported financial performance and operating scale

The report gives Jio Platforms’ FY26 total income as Rs 1,49,759 crore, up 16% from Rs 1,29,333 crore in FY25. Profit after tax rose by a reported 15%, to Rs 30,053 crore from Rs 26,120 crore.

Reliance Jio Infocomm served 533.3 million customers as of June 30, 2026, according to the account. It describes a business spanning mobile and fixed broadband, digital entertainment, enterprise connectivity, cloud services, cybersecurity, Internet of Things applications and artificial intelligence.

The reported infrastructure footprint included nationwide 4G and 5G connectivity, fibre links across more than 1,200 facilities and over 100 network edge nodes. Wireless broadband coverage extended to more than 99% of India’s population—a coverage measure, not the proportion subscribing to its services.

The company and its subsidiaries had reportedly filed 7,220 patent applications, with 1,043 granted, by June 30. The technology initiatives identified include an indigenous 5G stack, the JioBrain AI platform and fixed wireless access.

Why the GMP needs caution

Grey-market quotations reflect unofficial activity and can change before exchange trading begins. The reported 22.4% premium should not be presented as an expected investment return. Investors considering the offer should check the official offer documents and exchange notices for final terms, financial disclosures and risk factors rather than rely on the premium alone.