Jio Platforms’ proposed Rs 30,000 crore IPO puts the spotlight on a bigger question: Can India’s telecom giant turn its massive network, rising data consumption and AI ambitions into its next growth engine?
The country’s digital economy runs on infrastructure that most users never see. Behind every video streamed, cloud application accessed and AI service used lies a network of telecom towers, fibre cables, servers and computing systems. Reliance Jio wants to play a bigger role in this ecosystem.
With 533.3 million customers, Jio Platforms is preparing for an IPO that could unlock value in its telecom and digital businesses. According to a Centrum Broking October 14 research report, the company plans to raise around Rs 30,000 crore through a fresh issue of 270 million equity shares. Of the proceeds, Rs 27,500 crore is earmarked for debt repayment or prepayment.
But the more interesting story lies beyond the IPO numbers.
From 5G to AI: The infrastructure opportunity
Jio’s 5G customer base reached 285 million in the June 2026 quarter, up from 210 million a year earlier. Its fixed broadband customer base also expanded to 28.6 million, including 14 million JioAirFiber users. Data consumption is rising just as rapidly. Monthly data usage per customer increased to 43.7 GB from 37 GB over the same period.
These trends matter because the next wave of digital services, including AI applications, cloud computing and connected industrial systems, will depend on reliable, high capacity networks.
Jio’s network provides the connectivity layer, while data centres and computing infrastructure handle the processing. Together, these systems form an increasingly important part of India’s digital backbone.
The real question: Can Jio monetise the boom?
Scale alone does not guarantee higher profits. Jio’s average revenue per user rose to Rs 215.6 per month in the June 2026 quarter, from Rs 208.8 a year earlier. Centrum Broking expects a potential tariff increase of around 12% over the following three to four months to support revenue growth. This is the brokerage’s expectation, not a confirmed tariff announcement by Jio. “We expect around 12% tariff hike over next 34 months that will support growth in ARPU. We ascribe it current equity valuation of Rs 11.5 trillion at EV/EBITDA of 12x on FY28E EBITDA,” Centrum Broking said in a report.
The brokerage also expects revenue, EBITDA and profit after tax to grow at annualised rates of 14%, 16% and 16%, respectively, between FY26 and FY29. The IPO therefore offers investors more than exposure to a large telecom customer base. It brings attention to the infrastructure, pricing power and digital services that could determine Jio’s future earnings.
For India’s technology ecosystem, the bigger question is whether Jio can evolve from connecting millions of users to becoming a more significant player in the infrastructure powering India’s AI and cloud economy.
Jio Platforms has set a price band of Rs 1,065-1,119 per share for its much-anticipated IPO.
