Reliance could USD 4 bn Jio Platforms listing

Reliance Industries delayed plans for the USD 4 bn (INR 384 bn) listing of Jio Platforms as the war continues to rattle Indian equity markets, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources. Jio Platforms is the telecom unit of the Indian conglomerate backed by Gulf SWFs, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), and Mubadala.

War slows down momentum: While Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani originally pledged a listing in 1H 2026, a compounding Indian stock market rout and heavy foreign investor outflows have forced a pause on what was set to be India’s largest-ever IPO, expected to raise USD 4 bn.

Valuation concerns abound: The worsening selloff in Indian equities may not fetch an adequate valuation for Jio. Reliance wants to offer attractive returns for existing investors while generating enough momentum for a blockbuster listing. That goal would be easier to achieve in a booming market. Reliance also wants to avoid pricing Jio below its nearest rival Bharti Airtel.

Why it matters for MENA: Reliance had previously scrapped plans for an offer-for-sale, which would have allowed early backers (PIF, Adia, and Mubadala) a rewarding exit, as they collectively hold bns of USD in Jio. The Gulf SWFs are now staring down a forced, long-term hold in a volatile climate. So even though the IPO remains under active consideration, no formal launch date has been finalized.

What’s next: Reliance Industries’ plan — to invest USD 17 bn to build a 1.5 GW data center cluster in southern India’s Visakhapatnam — was poised to provide Gulf investors with a high-capacity follow-on vehicle to deploy capital into the AI infrastructure layer. The coming weeks are likely to shape investor confidence around the future trajectory of the conglomerate’s telecom and digital businesses.

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