Telecom giant Jio makes debut on Indian stock market

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - Shares of Reliance Industries-backed Jio Platforms, India’s largest telecom operator, made a strong stock market debut on Wednesday.

The company became the second-most valuable domestic firm by market capitalization, Press Trust of India reported.

The stock started trading at 1,358 Indian rupees ($14), registering a jump of 21.36% from the issue price on both the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the country’s two primary stock exchanges, it said.

The stock hit a high of 1,375 rupees ($14.45), up 22.87% from the issue price on the BSE. On the NSE, it climbed 22.83% to 1,374.50 rupees ($14.44).

The debut comes after Jio Platforms’ initial public offering (IPO), valued at $3.2 billion, was fully subscribed within two hours of opening on Oct. 21, marking the country’s largest-ever share sale.

Mukesh Ambani, one of Asia’s wealthiest businessmen, chairs Reliance Industries, a conglomerate spanning energy, retail and telecommunications. He launched Jio’s telecom services in 2016, disrupting India’s mobile market with inexpensive data and free voice calls.

Backed by US technology giants Meta and Google, Jio has grown into India’s largest telecom operator, serving more than 500 million subscribers.