Jio Anchor Book Draws Record ₹2.5 Lakh Crore

Jio Platforms, the telecom and digital arm of

, finalised its anchor allocation ahead of what is expected to be India’s largest IPO. It allotted 7.24 crore shares worth ₹8,109.85 crore to 212 anchor investors at ₹1,119, the top of its price band. Institutional bids exceeded ₹2.5 lakh crore (about $26 billion), more than 30 times the amount on offer. The anchor investors: LIC took ₹500 crore (6.17%), Capital Group’s New World Fund ₹486 crore (6%) and the Government of Singapore about ₹341 crore (4.2%). BlackRock, Fidelity, GIC and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund were also reported in the book, and domestic funds took nearly half. The offer: A fresh issue of up to 27 crore shares to raise about ₹30,213 crore, at a price band of ₹1,065-1,119. The offer documents value the company at around $108 billion. That is lower than the $143-146 billion enterprise value cited in earlier reports and the $3.8 billion size mentioned then. The dates: The public issue opens Wednesday, October 21, and closes Thursday, October 23. Allotment is expected October 26 and refunds on October 27. The minimum retail lot is 12 shares, about ₹13,400. What it signals: Pricing the anchor book at the top end, with 30 times demand and big sovereign names, shows strong institutional confidence.