Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) telecom and digital arm Jio Platforms’ IPO is expected to place the company among the country’s most valuable listed entities, with some analysts pegging its valuation between Rs 12-13 lakh crore. This would put it ahead of rival Bharti Airtel, which has a market capitalisation of around Rs 11.6 lakh crore and ranks third among the country’s most valuable listed firms.
The telecom major is valued higher than Airtel despite lagging in key metrics such as earnings and average revenue per user (ARPU). For FY26, Jio had reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 30,053 crore on a revenue of Rs 1.47 lakh crore, compared to a profit of Rs 33,823 crore and a consolidated revenue of Rs 2.11 lakh crore reported by Airtel.
Airtel also ended the financial year with an average revenue per user (ARPU) — the highest in the industry — of Rs 257.4 per month, while Jio ranked second at Rs 214.
Why, then, is Jio expected to command a higher valuation?
Higher India subscriber base
Airtel reported a total customer base of 66.6 crore across 15 countries as of March 31, including 48.2 crore subscribers in India. While Jio operates only in the domestic market and trails Airtel globally, it has a larger Indian subscriber base of 52.4 crore, accounting for nearly 40% of the country’s mobile users.
Since Airtel still derives nearly 75% of its revenues from its India operations, Jio’s higher Indian subscriber base provides a competitive edge for the company for now. “The key metric to see here is a product of both ARPU and revenue. So when it comes to the product of both these metrics, I would say Jio is currently leading,” said Piyush Pandey, senior Vice President and lead analyst for the telecom sector at Centrum Broking.
“One of the reasons why the Jio IPO may pull investors is the association of the Reliance Group, who have historically left some money on the table for investors to make during IPOs of their group companies. Secondly, the large pull of the customer base the company has currently is another factor,” said A Balasubramanian, Managing Director and Chief Executive at Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company.
However, some believe Jio’s focus on the Indian market may lead to growth potentially stagnating in the longer run. “(Jio’s focus on Indian market) has been positive till now, but maybe 7-8 years down the line, we might see subscriber growth getting very saturated, and growth would be driven by ARPU. In comparison, Bharti’s Africa operations are growing much faster, which gives them a good opportunity,” an analyst tracking the sector at a domestic research firm said.
According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), mobile network penetration in India was at 90.28% as of April 2026, with the industry-wide subscriber base growing just 0.5% year-on-year.
Jio’s 5G infra edge
Jio’s high valuation also comes from the edge it holds in its 5G infrastructure. When both companies began transitioning from 4G to 5G in 2022, Airtel chose the non-standalone (NSA) route, upgrading its existing network of 4G towers with 5G antennas, leading to a faster 5G rollout but limited speeds and restricted use cases.
Meanwhile, Jio opted for the standalone (SA) route, which required more capital and longer time frame to implement. In fact, it spent around Rs 2 lakh crore to deploy the technology. However, this newer infrastructure allowed Jio to offer higher internet speeds, as well as serve the enterprise segment.
“Jio’s integrated technology stack is a structural advantage that enables lower cost, faster rollout, and superior monetization vs peers reliant on external vendors. Its cloud-native 5G standalone (SA) network, proprietary UBR & nLOS technologies, and AI-led JioBrain platform improve broadband economics and network efficiency at scale for 524 million users,” Elara Capital said in a report before Jio’s IPO announcement.
However, Airtel started transitioning to the SA infrastructure from February 2025 in partnership with Swedish telecom major Ericsson, with rollouts beginning in early 2026. The company has already migrated its home broadband services to the SA infrastructure, while also transitioning mobile network users gradually.
Digital ecosystem
Jio also provides consumer cloud services, a digital ecosystem for consumers. While Airtel leads in the enterprise space through its network of Nxtra data centers, Jio provides a seamless digital ecosystem for consumers that acts as an additional incentive for the consumer audience.
Though both companies still derive most of their revenues from mobile services (over 90% for Jio and around 75% for Airtel in FY26), Jio’s digital ecosystem push is expected to benefit its mobile subscriber base in the longer run.
“Jio is shifting from a scale-based telecom operator to a monetisation-led digital platform, driven by tariff hikes, premiumisation, enterprise business expansion, and growing adoption of high-ARPU home broadband. Supported by an integrated technology stack, Jio is building a scalable, structurally differentiated digital infrastructure ecosystem with strong long-term earnings visibility,” Elara Capital’s report said.
“Jio also has digital services like Jio Cloud, Jio Saavn, and Jio Cinema. That can be a big edge. Primarily, my sense is that if they add AI services to capitalise on this large customer base, that can be like a value-added service for customers. And they might try to monetise it in some way in the future,” said Pandey of Centrum.
Mukesh Ambani and Akash Ambani in 2022, at the launch of Jio's 5G services, in New Delhi. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna) 
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