Akash Ambani fronts Jio IPO as Reliance succession moves on

Bidding for the Jio Platforms IPO, India's largest public offering at ₹30,213 crore, closed on Friday, 23 October, subscribed more than 21 times overall, and the issue has also put the spotlight on the man who brought it to market: Akash Ambani.

Akash, 34, the managing director of Jio Platforms, led the company's pitch to investors, while his father Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, stayed away from the stage, Reuters reported. Analysts and the financial press have read it as the clearest public sign yet of the next generation taking charge at Reliance.

Key points

• Issue size: ₹30,213 crore, India's largest IPO; price band ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 per share.
• Demand: fully subscribed within about 100 minutes of opening on 21 October; 21.36 times subscribed by close on 23 October on combined NSE and BSE data (Chittorgarh), or 22.19 times on NSE data until 7 pm (Upstox, HDFC Sky).
• Dates: bidding closed 23 October, allotment expected 26 October, listing 28 October.
• Akash Ambani led the investor pitch; his twin Isha shared the stage and Mukesh Ambani skipped the event, Reuters reported.
• Akash was appointed managing director of Jio Platforms for five years, effective 9 April 2026.

Akash Ambani steps forward

At the IPO event, Akash briefed investors on Jio's 533 million customers and its profit margins, Reuters reported. His twin sister Isha Ambani, who heads Reliance's retail business, shared the stage. Mukesh Ambani was not there.

Akash said he was present as a representative of the entire company, according to Reuters. He described Jio as "not just a telco" and laid out a path from 4G to 5G and now to new digital services, including automatic call summaries and transcription in 12 Indian languages.

His formal role has grown over the last few years:

Mukesh Ambani still chairs the holding company Jio Platforms, Reuters reported. According to the same report, Mukesh remains closer to sovereign wealth funds, while Akash handles relationships with major partners such as Meta, which holds close to 10% of Jio Platforms.

Akash has an economics degree from Brown University in the United States, helps run the Mumbai Indians IPL franchise, and married in 2019, Reuters reported.

The IPO in numbers

Sources: Business Today, Reuters.

Big global investors, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Capital Group and JPMorgan, took part in the anchor book alongside Indian mutual funds and sovereign investors, Business Today reported.

How it compares with India's biggest IPOs

Jio's issue is the largest public offering in India's history, ahead of Hyundai Motor India's listing in October 2024. Unlike some recent large issues that were mostly sales by existing shareholders, most of Jio's issue is fresh money, which will go largely to paying down the debt of Reliance Jio Infocomm, according to Business Today.

How the subscription went

The issue was fully subscribed within about 100 minutes of opening on 21 October, the fastest among India's mega IPOs, Business Today reported.

Bidding closed on Friday, 23 October, with the issue subscribed 21.36 times overall on combined NSE and BSE data at 7:28 pm, according to Chittorgarh, and 22.19 times on cumulative NSE data until 7 pm, reported by Upstox and HDFC Sky. Institutional buyers led the demand, with their portion subscribed more than 70 times.

Final subscription (NSE data until 7 pm, 23 October)

Sources: Upstox and HDFC Sky (overall, institutional, non-institutional and retail figures); HDFC Sky and IPO Guru (sub-categories, employee and shareholder quotas). These are NSE figures. On Chittorgarh's combined NSE and BSE data, institutions were at 67.15 times, non-institutional investors 13.99 times, retail 2.76 times, employees 2.91 times and shareholders 7.59 times. The final figures appear in the basis of allotment. For the day-by-day and hour-by-hour build-up, the record 1.37 crore applications and what the numbers mean for allotment, read our full report: Jio IPO subscription status, final figures by category.

For comparison, this is how the book stood midway through bidding.

Day two (3 pm, 22 October)

Day two figures: HDFC Sky and Kotak Neo. On Thursday, the employee quota had drawn bids for nearly twice the shares on offer and the shareholders' quota was 2.58 times subscribed, Reuters reported.

Jio's business

Jio launched in 2016 and has more than 500 million users, second only to China Mobile among single-country operators, Reuters reported. In the year to March 2026, Jio Platforms reported:

• Revenue: ₹1,46,885 crore
• Operating profit (EBITDA): ₹76,255 crore, a margin of about 52%
• Net profit: ₹30,049 crore

Telecom makes up nearly 90% of revenue and about 94% of profit, Reuters reported. Brokerages have pointed to future tariff increases as a key driver. Antique Stock Broking estimates a 15% tariff rise alone could add about ₹190 per share in value, Business Today reported.

For the background to the issue, read our earlier report: Jio Platforms IPO dates, price band and what we know.

Why the succession matters

Reliance is India's most valuable listed company, with a market value of about $172 billion, Reuters reported. Its founder Dhirubhai Ambani, Akash's grandfather, built one of the world's largest groups of retail shareholders through giant shareholder meetings in the 1980s.

Mukesh Ambani has spent several years preparing a handover:

• Akash has been given charge of the digital and telecom business.
• Isha leads retail.
• Anant has been given responsibility for the new energy business.

A smooth handover matters to millions of small shareholders, to Reliance's foreign partners and to India's telecom market, where Jio is the largest operator. An IPO led from the front by Akash, with strong demand from global funds, is being read by markets as a vote of confidence in that plan.

What happens now that bidding has closed

1. Subscription: the issue closed more than 21 times subscribed on 23 October: 21.36 times on combined data (Chittorgarh) and 22.19 times on NSE data (Upstox, HDFC Sky).
2. Allotment is expected on 26 October. If the retail portion is oversubscribed, shares are allotted by a computerised lottery, with each successful applicant usually getting one minimum lot of 12 shares.
3. Refunds: Most investors apply through ASBA or UPI, where money is only blocked in the bank account. If no shares are allotted, the block is released.
4. Demat credit: Allotted shares are credited to investors' demat accounts before listing.
5. Listing: Shares are due to start trading on the stock exchanges on 28 October.

You can check your allotment status on the registrar's website or the stock exchange websites once allotment is final.

What investors should keep in mind

• Subscription is not a guarantee of listing gains. Heavy demand often leads to a strong listing, but prices on listing day depend on market mood.
• Allotment will be small for retail investors if the retail portion is heavily oversubscribed, because shares are allotted by lottery in lots.
• Read the offer document. The red herring prospectus filed with SEBI sets out risks, including debt, competition and regulation.
• National Diaries does not give investment advice. Speak to a registered adviser before investing.

The IPO closed on strong numbers. The bigger story may be the face on stage, and what it says about who will run Reliance next.