Jio Platforms Ltd.’s blockbuster stock market debut has propelled the digital company as well as its parent Reliance Industries Ltd. into rarified air. It also helped Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate topple Tata Group as India’s largest conglomerate by market value.
Jio’s shares rose as much as 23% on their first day of trading on Wednesday, giving the company a valuation of more than 12.5 trillion rupees ($131.4 billion). That pushed Reliance Group’s combined market value past 30 trillion rupees and surpassed Tata Group at 25 trillion rupees, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Tata Group was at the top by market value for most part of the past decade, data shows.
Jio, which listed after India’s largest IPO, also overtook nearest sector rival Bharti Airtel Ltd. to become sixth-most valuable telecom firm globally. It’s now the no. 2 company in India by the same metric, trailing only its parent, Reliance.
“Sometimes a big listing can alter the mood of the investing nation, and we all hope Jio does that to the Indian market,” said Shankar Sharma, founder of GQuant Investech.
Reliance’s shares have tumbled 25.4% this year while the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 has slipped almost 13.3%.