Mumbai, Oct. 28 -- The strong listing of Jio Platforms Ltd made the Reliance Group the biggest conglomerate by market valuation on Wednesday, overtaking the Tata Group.
Shares of Jio Platforms, the Reliance Industries-backed digital services company, made a blockbuster debut on Wednesday. The stock started trading at Rs 1,358, registering a jump of 21.36 per cent from the issue price of Rs 1,119, on both the BSE and NSE.
The shares ended at Rs 1,417.35, surging 26.66 per cent from the issue price on the BSE. During the day, the stock zoomed 27.23 per cent to hit the day's high of Rs 1,423.80. On the NSE, the stock climbed 26.67 per cent to end at Rs 1,417.50. During intraday trade, it surged 27.24 per cent to Rs 1,423.90.
The company's market valuation stood at Rs 13 lakh crore. At the close of trade, Reliance Industries' market valuation was Rs 15.67 lakh crore, Jio Platforms commanded an mcap of Rs 13 lakh crore and Jio Financial Services Rs 1.35 lakh crore. The combined market capitalisation (mcap) of the Reliance Group stood at Rs 30 lakh crore, according to BSE data.
On the other hand, the combined market valuation of the Tata Group firms, including TCS, Tata Steel, Titan, Tata Power, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Trent, stood at Rs 25.28 lakh crore. The Tata Group had held the numero uno rank in terms of mcap for a long time.
Jio Platforms also became the second most valuable domestic firm by market capitalisation only behind Reliance Industries.
"In the primary market, Jio Platforms made a strong debut, listing at Rs 1,358 on both exchanges, a 21.36 per cent premium to its issue price of Rs 1,119, taking its market capitalisation to Rs 13 lakh crore, making it India's second-most valuable listed company after Reliance. The strong debut breaks the recent run of disappointing mega-IPO listings, and signals sustained investor appetite for quality offerings, potentially supporting the IPO pipeline into the next quarter," Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.
Jio Platforms' Rs 30,213-crore IPO closed with bids for 22.19 times the shares on offer, as total demand across the public issue and anchor investor placement crossed Rs 7.4 lakh crore and applications approached a world-beating 1.39 crore. The Rs 30,213-crore offering was India's largest IPO.
The IPO was entirely a fresh issue of 27 crore shares and was priced at Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 a share.
After a blockbuster IPO, Jio Platforms' Managing Director Akash Ambani on Wednesday vowed to take the company, which is at the core of making digital connectivity affordable for Indians, to greater heights and democratise newer technologies, including space connectivity.
Speaking ahead of the listing of the company's shares following the Rs 30,213 crore issue, Ambani said this is not a finish line but a start line for the company, and promised to grow investor wealth like its parent Reliance Industries has done over nearly 50 years now. "We promise to take Jio to greater heights of growth, excellence and reputation in India and the world," the 35-year-old Akash Ambani said at the listing ceremony at NSE.
The responsibility of the next generation of Ambanis is not just to preserve what they have inherited, but to make Jio bigger, better and more meaningful for India, Akash Ambani said.
Speaking before him, Anant said Jio was an idea seeded by Isha, which was adopted and nurtured by her twin brother Akash. Their 69-year-old father Mukesh - the Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries - watched the proceedings accompanied by his wife Nita, and was seen becoming emotional as the next generation took the centre stage.
Isha said Akash has worked hard for the last 13 years to build and grow Jio as India's largest telco with over 53 crore subscribers. Recalling their grandfather Dhirubhai's maxim of 'Growth is life', Isha also vowed to keep building and create value for all the shareholders.
Spelling out Jio's vision for the future, Akash said that in the first ten years, Jio democratised data. "In our next ten (years), we want to democratise every technology that can transform Indian lives: AI, cloud, connected devices, connectivity even from space and digital services not yet imagined," he said.
The true value of technology lies in the opportunity it creates, the barriers it removes and the lives it improves, Akash said.
He said the company's ambition is a digital society with Jio Platforms at its core, where connectivity, computing and intelligence work together seamlessly.
For many years, the world looked at India as a consumer of technology, Akash said, adding that it is now emerging as its creator.
One day, Jio Platforms will become one of the greatest technology companies in the world, Akash said, adding, "we are now ready to take the tricolour global".
The response to the IPO illustrates the investors' confidence in India's potential, Akash said, pointing out that the investor response surpassed his own imagination as well.
The company's offering saw a demand of Rs 7.5 lakh crore through 1.3 crore applications, he said, stressing that the entire issue was subscribed within 95 minutes of the launch.
Stating that this was a deeply humbling experience, and one which has left him with a profound sense of responsibility, Akash said, "our success is measured by the ambitions we encourage and the potential we unlock towards a better India."
The entire Ambani clan, including the next-generation kids, rang the bell as the clock struck 10 am.
The Jio Platforms scrip was trading 21.42 per cent up at Rs 1,358.7 a piece on the BSE at 1101 hrs as against 0.89 per cent correction on the benchmark.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.