Jio Platforms, the digital and telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, filed its draft red herring prospectus with India’s securities regulator on Friday for what would be the country’s largest initial public offering. The filing covers a fresh issue of up to 270 million shares, with no offer-for-sale component, meaning every rupee raised flows directly into the company’s balance sheet.

The IPO is expected to raise approximately $3.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. That would surpass Hyundai Motor India’s $3.3 billion listing in October 2024, currently the record for an Indian maiden offering.

The DRHP specifies that 275 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) of the net proceeds will go toward prepaying external commercial borrowings held by Reliance Jio Infocomm, its telecom subsidiary. The remaining funds are earmarked for general corporate purposes.

The borrowings in question consist of three loan facilities denominated in dollars and yen, totaling 300.6 billion rupees. Lenders include Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, and Citibank. All three facilities are scheduled for repayment between March and June 2028, but Jio Platforms intends to prepay them in full or in part from the IPO proceeds.

Ambani announced the filing at Reliance Industries’ 49th annual general meeting on June 19, describing the listing as a step toward unlocking value for shareholders. The IPO will be led by Akash, Isha, and Anant Ambani, the next generation of the family.

Nineteen banks have been appointed as book-running lead managers, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Kotak Mahindra Capital.

The deleveraging strategy is significant. Jio Platforms’ net debt stood at 275.8 billion rupees as of March 2026, down from 452.7 billion rupees a year earlier and 484.4 billion rupees in March 2024. A successful IPO would eliminate the bulk of the remaining foreign currency exposure and reduce the company’s annual servicing costs.

The company said in the prospectus that repaying the debt would improve its ability to raise future resources for business development and position it for continued investment in 5G network densification, fixed broadband expansion, and AI and cloud services.

Jio Platforms operates through its telecom subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is the world’s second-largest mobile operator by single-country subscribers after China Mobile. As of March 2026, it had 524.4 million subscribers, with 268.5 million already on its 5G network, making it the largest single-country 5G operator outside China in a market racing to scale its digital infrastructure.

In the financial year ending March 2026, Jio reported operating revenue of approximately 1.47 trillion rupees ($15.6 billion) and a net profit of roughly 300 billion rupees ($3.2 billion). EBITDA rose 18.8% to 762.6 billion rupees, with margins improving to 51.9%.

At a valuation above $130 billion, which analyst estimates place between $131 billion and $180 billion, the IPO would make Jio Platforms one of the most valuable companies to list in Asia. The offering represents roughly 2.9% of post-issue equity, enabled by a March 2026 regulatory change that allows companies valued above 5 trillion rupees to list with just 2.5% public float.

Meta holds a 9.99% stake and Google holds 7.73%, both acquired during a 2020 fundraising round that brought in more than a dozen global investors including KKR, Vista Equity Partners, Silver Lake, and sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. The fresh-issue structure means none of these investors are selling in the IPO itself, though the DRHP does not restrict future secondary sales once lock-up periods expire.

The timing places Jio’s filing alongside a broader wave of major Asian tech listings. At the same AGM, Ambani outlined a $110 billion AI infrastructure investment over seven years and announced a partnership with Meta to build an AI data centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The IPO proceeds, by clearing the balance sheet of foreign currency debt, would free up capacity for those commitments.

India’s broader push toward technological self-reliance and sovereign AI infrastructure adds a geopolitical dimension to the listing. Jio has positioned itself as the backbone of India’s digital economy, and its 5G and AI ambitions align with the government’s stated goal of reducing dependence on foreign technology platforms.

Existing Reliance Industries retail shareholders will receive a dedicated quota in the offering, with up to 35% of the issue reserved for retail investors. Price band, lot size, and bidding dates have not yet been disclosed, which is standard at the DRHP stage. These will follow once SEBI issues its observations and Jio files its final prospectus.

The draft document did not specify the IPO’s total size in rupee terms, as the issue price will be determined through book building. However, based on the 270 million share figure and prevailing valuation estimates, the offering is expected to land in the range of 360 billion rupees.