In November, investment bank Jefferies estimated that Reliance Jio’s valuation was $180 billion. At that valuation, a sale of a 2.5% stake would raise $4.5 billion, dwarfing Hyundai Motor India’s $3.3 billion IPO last year.Over the past six years, Jio has diversified into artificial intelligence and raised money from high-profile investors including KKR, General Atlantic, Silver Lake and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Reliance would like to list only 2.5% of Jio’s shares given the company’s large size, the sources said, even as a proposal by India’s market regulator to reduce the minimum share sale size for large companies pursuing initial public offerings from 5% to 2.5% awaits approval from the finance ministry.
“The preference is for a 2.5% quote at this point if the law is changed as a smaller amount will create more price tensions,” said one of the sources with direct knowledge, adding that some bankers had suggested a valuation of $200 billion to $240 billion for the company, although Reliance has not yet finalized the figure.
Reliance did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. The sources did not want to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly. It has not yet been decided whether the Jio IPO would be a so-called offer for sale, where existing shareholders could sell their shares to the public, or whether new shares would also be issued. Hyundai’s IPO in India, for example, was a sale offering and did not raise any new money.
The Jio listing would add to strong momentum in the Indian IPO market in recent years; it was the world’s second most important equity issuance market in 2025, raising $21.6 billion as of December 18, according to LSEG data.
TWO BANKS WORKING ON PROSPECTUS
In 2019, Ambani first signaled plans to list Jio within five years. Last year, Reuters reported that he had postponed the offering until after 2025 because the company wanted a higher valuation by expanding into other niche digital businesses.
Reliance Jio will also be in talks with Elon Musk, who is expected to launch the Starlink internet service in India in the coming months. Jio is also working with Nvidia to develop AI infrastructure.
In August, Ambani said Jio would go public in the “first half of 2026.” The listing timeline will depend on market conditions, one of the sources said.
Although formal arrangements have yet to be made, bankers from Morgan Stanley and India’s Kotak are already working with Reliance to draw up the IPO papers, which could be a lengthy process, a fifth source with direct knowledge of the situation said.
Reliance is awaiting the approval of the 2.5% public float rule by the finance ministry and the size of the sale could change in the coming months, the person added.
Reliance expects many foreign investors who have invested in the company in recent years will seek an exit through the IPO, the person said.
Morgan Stanley and Kotak did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
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