Jio Platforms will open its subscription window from 21 to 23 October, with a price band fixed at ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 per share. The issue aims to raise ₹30,203 crore, making it the largest IPO in India by issue size. The announcement triggered a rally in the telecom sector, with Reliance Industries shares jumping nearly 3% on Thursday as investors anticipate value unlocking from the Oil‑to‑Telecom behemoth. The market reaction underscores the high expectations surrounding Jio’s entry into the public market.

Shares of Bharti Airtel also rose over 3.5% on Thursday, reflecting investor interest in comparing the two telecom giants on key metrics. Jio Platforms, launched in 2016, holds 535 million subscribers as of Q1FY27, topping the mobile telecom user space and leading the 5G user category with approximately 285 million users. Airtel, meanwhile, serves 490 million subscribers in India and about 188 million in Africa, totaling more than 680 million users in Q1FY27, though its subscriber additions outpaced Jio’s with 55 million versus 35 million added in the same period.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) shows Bharti Airtel ahead of Jio Platforms. Airtel’s ARPU stands at ₹264 per user, up from ₹250 the previous year, while Jio’s ARPU was ₹215 per user for the period ending September 2026. Despite Jio’s larger subscriber base, its revenue per user remains lower than Airtel’s, highlighting differences in monetisation strategies between the two operators.

Valuation comparisons reveal a narrowing gap after Jio’s IPO announcement. Jio Platforms launched at a market capitalisation of roughly ₹10.30 lakh crore, close to Airtel’s ₹11 lakh crore. Both stocks trade at a price‑to‑earnings ratio of 34x to 35x, leaving little discount for new investors. However, on growth metrics Airtel outperforms Jio, with a PEG ratio of 0.84 versus 2.2 for Jio, driven by robust profit growth and a 60% CAGR in profitability over three years.

Financially, Airtel’s India businesses delivered a 57.4% EBITDA margin in Q1FY27, compared to 53.2% for Jio Platforms. Airtel also holds ₹43,140 crore in free cash flow as of FY26, versus ₹14,157 crore for Jio. These figures suggest Airtel offers more value at its current valuation, while Jio’s strategy focuses on aggressive scaling and diversification into internet‑to‑streaming services under a single platform umbrella.

Jio Platforms’ backing by India’s largest conglomerate and its global partnerships with tech giants such as NVIDIA and Alphabet position it as an advanced AI and cloud infrastructure company. Airtel’s focus on multinational growth, particularly in Africa, contrasts with Jio’s domestic scalability approach. The market will closely monitor whether Jio continues its aggressive growth path or shifts toward higher revenue per user, as the IPO unfolds and investor sentiment evolves.