New Delhi, Aug 29 (PTI) Reliance Jio, India's biggest telecom operator, is planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) and listing on bourses in the first half of 2026, billionaire Mukesh Ambani said on Friday.

Jio is currently a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd, India's most valuable company.

Addressing the annual shareholder meeting of the company, Ambani said, "Jio is making all arrangements to file for its IPO. We are aiming to list Jio by the first half of 2026, subject to all necessary approvals." Jio, in its 10th year of operation, has crossed 500 million (50 crore) user base, he said.

Ambani said the upcoming IPO will demonstrate that Jio is capable of creating the same quantum of value as its global counterparts.

"I am sure that it will be a very attractive opportunity for all investors," he said, and promised Jio's plans for the future are "even more ambitious".

While Ambani did not disclose the quantum of shares to be listed, markets are speculating a 10 per cent share sale. Jio Platforms - the holding company of all digital properties, including telecom arm - is currently 66.3 per cent owned by Reliance Industries Ltd.

Facebook (now Meta) holds a 10 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, while Google has another 7.7 per cent. PE investors have the remaining 16 per cent.

A few years back, Jio Platforms had raised about Rs 1,52,056 crore from 13 marquee investors, including Facebook, Google, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures, for a total consideration of 32.9 per cent stake.

Analysts have pegged Jio's enterprise valuation between USD 136-154 billion. In a note in April this year on Reliance Industries, a brokerage report by Jeferries had said: "We raise our EV (enterprise value) for Jio to USD 136 billion as we roll-forward valuations to Mar-26".

Market watchers believe that if valued at the higher end, an IPO may position Jio as the world's sixth-largest telecom company by enterprise value.

Based on the most recent data available as of August 2025, T-Mobile US tops the list of publicly traded telecom companies (at USD 281.93 billion), while others in the coveted list are China Mobile (USD 232.93 billion), AT&T (USD 197.95 billion), Verizon (USD 183.57 billion), and Deutsche Telekom (USD 177.26 billion).

Jio Platforms reported a net profit of Rs 7,110 crore for the June quarter, a nearly 25 per cent rise over the year-ago period. Its numbers were bolstered by customer adds, improved realisations per user and data traffic growth.

The Q1FY26 report card of JPL, the entity that houses Reliance Industries' telecom and digital businesses, ticked all the boxes on key metrics, as gross revenue climbed 19 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 41,054 crore, and margins improved.

Quarterly Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation or EBITDA at Rs 18,135 crore was up 23.9 per cent year-on-year.

Ambani noted that Jio's many achievements were previously unimaginable, including making voice calls free from anywhere to everywhere in India, creating a habit for common Indians to watch videos, and making digital payments on mobiles.

Ambani said Jio's nationwide 5G rollout, the fastest in the world, laid the foundation for the AI revolution in India.

"As a result of these achievements, the financial performance of Jio is scaling new heights with every passing year. Jio's revenue was Rs 1,28,218 crore ($15 billion), a growth of 17 per cent year-on-year in FY25; and EBITDA was Rs 64,170 crore ($7.5 billion)," he said, adding that the performance was a testimony to the enormous value Jio has already created, and "even greater value it is destined to create".

Ambani said Jio is committed to connecting every Indian on mobile and home broadband. Further, Jio will equip every Indian home with digital services, such as Jio Smart Home, JioTV+, Jio TV OS, and seamless automation. Jio will digitise every Indian business and enterprise with simple, scalable, and secure platforms, and usher in the AI revolution in India.

"Our motto is AI everywhere for everyone," he said.

"Jio will expand its operations outside India, taking our home-grown technology to people around the world. I am extremely confident that the path ahead for Jio is even brighter than its journey so far," he said., Akash Ambani, who spearheads Jio, noted that the base of 500 million customers is more than the combined population of the US, the UK, and France.

"Today, Jio carries the largest wireless data traffic in the world. India's next digital leap, and Jio's next growth engine, will come from businesses - large and small. Jio is building simple, scalable, and secure platforms for MSMEs and enterprises alike," he said.

From franchisee management to AI-powered solutions across verticals, Jio is enabling every business to compete globally.

This is not just digitisation, it is democratisation of enterprise-grade technology, he said.

Jio's transformation into a Deep-Tech company is now unmistakable, he said, adding that the company has done so on a technology stack that is designed, developed, and deployed entirely in India, by Jio's own engineers.

"From developing our very own 5G Core, to rolling out the fastest 5G services, and now deploying our global-first home connect technology, we have cemented our place as a Deep-Tech company," he said. PTI TEAM ANZ MBI SHW