Jio Platforms Limited opens its initial public offering Oct. 21 as Mint reports lenders marketing loans to retail bidders, bringing short-term borrowing into focus for a major Indian share sale.
Reliance Industries Limited said the IPO comprises up to 270 million newly issued shares. The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) lists a price range of ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 a share. At the price cap, the maximum share count produces a calculated ceiling of ₹30,213 crore, or ₹302.13 billion, for the full issue before employee discounts.
The Oct. 19 anchor allocation totaled 72,474,066 shares at ₹1,119 each, an exchange notice shows. Those shares are included in the full-issue ceiling. Jio also approved a ₹54-per-share discount for eligible employees.
The prospectus says existing shareholders are not selling shares in the offer. Jio intends to use part of the net proceeds to prepay certain borrowings at its telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, and to fund general corporate purposes.
Mint reported that some institutions offered loans covering 60% to 90% of an IPO application, with repayment periods of 15 to 90 days. Under terms reviewed by Mint, lenders would hold any shares allotted to borrowers as collateral until the loans were repaid.
Mint identified SBI Securities Ltd and Jio Financial Services Ltd as promoters of financing through apps and messages. Its report also described outreach unrelated to loans: HDFC Securities Ltd asked a customer to reactivate an inactive account, while Axis Direct urged prospective investors to keep accounts active.
A person involved in syndicating the offer told Mint that broad retail demand mattered in a weak market. Alay Razvi, managing partner at Accord Juris, told Mint that financing had accompanied earlier large IPOs but questioned the intensity of credit promotion around this sale.
Mint compared the effort with Hyundai Motor India's 2024 IPO, which drew bids for 2.37 times the shares offered overall while retail investors applied for about half their reserved portion. Hyundai's shares finished their first trading day about 7% below the issue price. Jio's prospectus cautions that sustained trading in its shares after listing is not assured.
Bidding closes Oct. 23. Applicants using India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) must approve their payment mandates by 9:30 a.m. EDT (7 p.m. IST) that day, the prospectus says.
