Jio Platforms IPO sets global record by drawing over 1 crore applications

Reliance Industries-backed Jio Platforms has set a global record in the primary market by becoming the first initial public offering worldwide to attract more than 1 crore applications. The milestone was reached on Friday, October 23, with four hours of bidding still left.

Subscription Details

This record breaks the previous mark held by Waaree Energies, which received about 97 lakh applications during its three-day run. Bajaj Housing Finance and Bharat Coking Coal followed closely with nearly 90 lakh applications each. Total demand for the Jio offering crossed 4 lakh crore rupees, made up of roughly 2.5 lakh crore rupees from anchor investors and 1.5 lakh crore rupees from public investors. By 1:20 pm on Friday, the issue was subscribed 7.93 times overall.

Category Breakdown

The qualified institutional buyers category was subscribed 16.87 times, while the non-institutional investor portion saw bids of 10.90 times. Retail participation reached 2.23 times with bids crossing 21,250 crore rupees, which is over 2 billion dollars. The employee quota was subscribed 2.59 times, and existing shareholders of Reliance Industries booked 6.29 times their reserved portion. The total issue involves a fresh supply of 27 crore equity shares to raise about 30,213 crore rupees, with a price band set from 1,065 to 1,119 rupees per share.

Context

Initial public offerings allow private companies to raise funds by selling shares to the public on stock exchanges like the BSE and NSE. High application counts in large Indian public offerings reflect strong retail and institutional participation in the country's capital markets. Grey market premiums offer an unofficial early hint at how a stock might perform upon listing, though they do not guarantee actual market gains.