Billionaire Mukesh Ambani now controls the two most valuable companies in India after a strong stock market debut by Jio Platforms, the country's biggest telecom and digital services operator. Shares of the company rose another 3.3% at the open on Thursday, a day after they began trading.
Jio Platforms, which counts Meta and Google among its backers, listed on Wednesday at a premium of more than 25% to its IPO price. That gave it a market capitalization of 13.05 trillion rupees, or $137.1 billion. Reliance Industries, the Ambani flagship and India's most valued company, holds more than 64% of Jio Platforms following the offering.
Before the listing, Ambani was moved to tears as his three children described the story of building Jio and pledged to create value for investors over the next 50 years.
Analysts expect the company's free cash flow to improve markedly. Proceeds from the IPO will go toward repaying legacy telecom debt, and the company's 5G investment cycle is easing. They warned, however, that much of the upside is already reflected in the share price after the listing gains, with Jio now valued on a par with several global telecom giants.
Anurag Singh, founder and managing partner of U.S.-based Ansid Capital, told CNBC that Jio cleared nearly 300 billion rupees of debt with only 3% share dilution. He said its market value places it alongside American telecom heavyweights such as AT&T and Verizon Communications. According to LSEG data, AT&T has a market capitalization of $139 billion and Verizon $179 billion.
Speaking on Wednesday ahead of the listing, Akash Ambani, the 35-year-old eldest son of Mukesh Ambani and managing director of Jio Platforms, said that over the next 10 years Jio will "democratize every technology that can transform Indian lives." He named artificial intelligence, cloud, connected devices and "connectivity from even space" as key growth areas.
The company's plans for satellite communications have drawn criticism from Elon Musk, who earlier this month blamed the Ambanis for delays in launching Starlink in India.
Vaqarjaved Khan, a senior analyst at Indian brokerage Angel One, told CNBC that "Jio brings a rare scale to Indian equities," citing a customer base of more than half a billion, operating margins of 52% and net leverage of 0.36 times. He added that at a price-to-earnings ratio of 34 times, much of the "quality" is already priced in, and future returns will depend on gains in average revenue per user and AI services.
The listing has also reshaped the ranking of Indian conglomerates. According to a Bloomberg report, Reliance Group's market value of 30 trillion rupees now exceeds the Tata Group's 25 trillion rupees, making the Ambani family business the largest conglomerate in the country.
