Reliance Industries (RIL) shares surged on Wednesday, October 21, as the initial public offering of its digital and technology arm, Jio Platforms, opened for subscription at 10 AM. The stock rose as much as 2.68%, reaching a high of ₹1,234.30 in the early session, reflecting investor enthusiasm for the country’s largest public offering to date. The IPO, which is the biggest in India’s capital markets, attracted significant attention as it marks a milestone for both the conglomerate and the broader market.

By 9:35 AM, Jio Platforms’ IPO had been subscribed 0.57 times overall, according to BSE data, with the qualified institutional buyers (QIB) segment nearly two times subscribed. Although media reports claimed full subscription by 9:30 AM, the BSE figures showed a 0.57‑times subscription at 9:35 AM. The early investor interest underscores the high demand for the technology‑focused unit, which is positioned to leverage its network as a platform for AI, cloud and digital services.

Jio Platforms aims to raise over ₹30,200 crore, valuing the business at approximately $108 billion. Managing Director Akash Ambani, speaking to PTI, highlighted that the company views its network as technology, with in‑house 5G core, cloud‑native radio access network and software platform serving 533.3 million customers. He added that connectivity was the first product built on that platform, and that digital services, AI and cloud are now layered on top, signalling a shift from subscriber growth to higher‑margin revenue streams.

The company has identified satellite connectivity and next‑generation 6G technology as future development areas. Ambani noted growth opportunities across mobile services, home broadband and enterprise digital solutions, citing that 26 crore Indians still use 2G services and fixed broadband reaches only about 21% of households. Jio accounted for 67.56% of India’s net fixed‑broadband additions in FY26, while digital‑services adoption among more than 7.9 crore micro, small and medium enterprises remains below three per cent.

In the record anchor book, Jio Platforms raised ₹8,109.85 crore from 212 anchor investors, allotting 7.24 crore shares at the upper end of its price band of ₹1,119 each. Institutional demand reportedly exceeded ₹2.5 lakh crore, more than 30 times the amount available in the anchor book, signalling strong interest from large investors. The Life Insurance Corporation of India received the largest allocation of ₹499.98 crore (6.17% of the anchor portion), followed by New World Fund Inc at ₹486.27 crore and the Government of Singapore at ₹340.93 crore. SBI Focused Fund and BNP Paribas Financial Markets – ODI were allotted shares worth ₹315 crore and ₹303.25 crore respectively.