India's largest telecom and digital service Jio Platforms files for IPO

A man talks on his phone walks past a Jio store in Mumbai, India, 22 March, 2023. Reliance Jio rolls Out 5G Services in 41 More Cities, Network Now Live in 406 Cities in India according to an Indian media report. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms, India's largest wireless operator and digital service provider, filed draft papers for an initial public offering on Friday. The IPO will see the company issue up to 270 million shares, as per an exchange filing. "The proposed listing of Jio will demonstrate to the world that India can build technology companies of global scale, global capability, and global value," said Mukesh Ambani at the annual shareholder meeting of Reliance Industries on Friday. Jio Platforms, in which Ambani's flagship company, Reliance Industries , owns a more than 66% stake. Google International owns 7.7%, and Meta Platforms owns nearly 10%, per LSEG data. Jio Platforms owns Reliance Jio Infocomm, India's largest wireless operator, which has over 526.94 million subscribers in India. This amounts to nearly a 50% share of the wired and wireless internet market in the country, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Bharti Airtel , the second-largest telecom service provider with nearly 35% market share, is also the country's third most valuable company with a market cap of over $120 billion, according to LSEG data. It trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of over 42 times. …