RELIANCE Industries plans to take its telecom and digital arm, Jio Platforms, public by mid-2026, chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Friday. The announcement sets a new timeline for the long-awaited IPO of a business analysts value at over $100 billion.
At its annual general meeting (AGM), Reliance also announced the launch of an artificial intelligence unit in partnership with Google and Meta.
Ambani had first indicated plans in 2019 to list Jio within five years. On Friday, he told shareholders the company is preparing to file for an IPO next year.
Reuters reported in July that Jio decided against launching an IPO in 2025. Analysts at the time valued the company at over $100 billion.
Jio Platforms includes India’s largest telecom operator, Reliance Jio Infocomm, with more than 500 million users. Backed by investors such as Meta, Google and KKR, the business is central to Ambani’s move to diversify Reliance beyond oil and chemicals into retail, consumer and technology. AI and international expansion are now key areas of growth.
Reliance is also investing $8.8 billion in its chemicals business. It expects retail to grow sales by nearly 10 per cent a year on a like-for-like basis and plans to add 2,000–3,000 new stores annually.
“Jio is not being fully valued within Reliance's broader petrochemicals and retail portfolio, and a separate listing would help unlock higher value for the telecom and digital unit,” said Saurabh Parikh, senior analyst at ICRA Ltd.
AI Unit with Meta and Google
Reliance and Meta announced a new AI joint venture with an initial investment of around $100 million. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the AGM the venture will provide Meta’s open-source AI models to Indian businesses.
Google will partner with Reliance to deploy AI across energy, retail, telecom and financial services. It will also set up a Jamnagar Cloud region dedicated to Reliance, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the meeting.
The partnerships come as India-US relations face tensions following US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports in response to India’s purchase of Russian oil.
Reliance runs the world’s largest refining complex in Gujarat and is India’s biggest buyer of Russian oil.
(With inputs from agencies)
