Jio Platforms Opens India’s Largest-Ever IPO This Week at ₹1,065–₹1,119 a Share

India’s biggest initial public offering is finally here. Jio Platforms’ IPO opens for subscription on October 21 with a price band of ₹1,065–₹1,119 per share, and at the upper end it is expected to raise around ₹30,200 crore — making it the largest IPO in Indian history. It would topple Hyundai Motor India’s ₹27,870-crore issue from 2024 by a margin of over ₹2,300 crore, and outrank the ₹22,562-crore NSE offering and LIC’s ₹20,557-crore listing among the country’s mega issues. At the top of the band, Jio’s implied market capitalisation would be around ₹10.30 lakh crore, placing it instantly among India’s most valuable listed companies.

Veteran banker Uday Kotak told reporters at the IPO press conference that the Reliance Industries group would become India’s largest conglomerate by listed market capitalisation after the listing — a historic moment, he noted, coming nearly two decades after the group’s last major public issue. The timing is no accident: Jio Platforms arrives alongside a crowded primary-market calendar. Paras Healthcare’s IPO also opens October 21, while six mainboard companies list through the week — Tonbo Imaging, Zetwerk, Bonfiglioli and Sahajanand Medical Technologies debut October 23, HD Fire Protect on October 21 and Fusion CX on October 22. The week is shortened by Dussehra, with markets closed on Tuesday, October 20.

The backdrop is a market that has just rediscovered its footing. The Nifty 50 gained 2.8% last week to close at 23,146, its second straight weekly advance after an eight-week losing streak — the longest in 25 years. The Sensex rose 3.1% to 74,729, led by a furious 11.7% surge in Nifty IT, with Tech Mahindra up about 18%, TCS 14% and Infosys over 13%. The rally is being powered from within: domestic institutions bought ₹14,792 crore of equities during the week, absorbing ₹15,440 crore of foreign selling, while the rupee strengthened 2% to become emerging markets’ best-performing currency after RBI intervention.

Risks have not gone away. Brent crude is hovering near $110 a barrel, adding to India’s import bill and inflation pressure, and sticky US inflation — 3.7% in September, up from 3.4% in August — has revived fears of further Federal Reserve tightening ahead of the October 27–28 meeting. Strategists called the one-day pause in foreign selling on October 16 tactical rather than structural. On the policy front, the Cabinet approved the strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank, with Canada’s Fairfax Financial taking a 60.7% stake in a ₹52,878-crore deal expected to close this financial year — a move analysts say could signal more PSU-bank stake sales.

Why this matters: an issue of this size is a market event in itself. Jio’s ₹10.30-lakh-crore valuation would make it an immediate index heavyweight, and subscription demand from retail and institutional investors will show whether domestic appetite can stand up to foreign caution. Watch the subscription numbers through October 23, the listing-day pop, and how the stock’s weight moves the Nifty — alongside crude prices and the September-quarter earnings flow, with Infosys, Tata Motors and Kotak Mahindra Bank all reporting this week. If you are new to markets, our free forex course explains risk management and position sizing, and the forex tools page has calculators for planning any trade. (Not financial advice.)