Zerodha co-founder Nitin Kamath has credited Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel for helping transform India's digital economy and expand the country's capital markets, as Jio Platforms' initial public offering (IPO) draws strong interest from investors. In a post on X, Kamath discussed Jio’s impact on businesses such as Zerodha, saying affordable mobile data, Aadhaar and UPI had helped build the digital infrastructure that enabled millions of Indians to access online services and participate in the financial markets. Kamath said he could not advise investors on whether to apply for the Jio Platforms IPO, but credited the telecom industry for helping businesses grow in India.
“I can't tell you whether to apply for the upcoming IPO,” Kamath wrote, adding that both Jio and Airtel had played a major role in enabling a generation of Indian businesses.
Nitin Kamath recalls being ranked alongside Mukesh Ambani in 2016
Looking back at Jio's early days, Kamath recalled being included in The Economic Times' list of 10 businessmen to watch in 2016, when Mukesh Ambani topped the list and Kamath was ranked sixth.
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“When Jio was getting ready to launch in 2015, I remember being petrified to find myself on this Economic Times list of 10 businessmen to watch in 2016,” he wrote.
Kamath said Zerodha had recently made delivery brokerage free at the time, but the company was still much smaller than Reliance and Jio.
“We were, and still are, ants compared to Reliance/Jio,” he said.
He added that Jio's significance went beyond its size, pointing to the changes it brought to India's digital economy and the opportunities it created for businesses.
“Looking back, what's phenomenal isn't just how big it has become. It's how much it has changed India and helped so many businesses start and grow,” Kamath wrote.
How Jio and Airtel helped expand India's digital economy
Kamath credited affordable mobile data from Jio and Airtel, alongside Aadhaar and UPI, with helping online-first businesses reach more people.
He said Zerodha's growth would have been difficult without the digital infrastructure created by these services.
“Zerodha wouldn't be what it is today without Aadhaar and UPI. But just as important was Jio, along with Airtel, bringing millions of Indians online with affordable data,” he wrote.
According to Kamath, the expansion of digital access helped lay the groundwork for the growth of India's capital markets after the Covid-19 pandemic.
He noted that India had around 2 crore unique investors in 2016, compared with more than 13 crore today.
“Together, all of this made the huge expansion of Indian capital markets after COVID possible,” he said.
Kamath also argued that many online businesses and consumer-facing business models might have remained much smaller without widespread access to affordable internet.
Jio Platforms IPO attracts strong demand from institutional investors
Jio Platforms' $3.2 billion IPO was 85% subscribed within the first hour of public bidding on Wednesday, according to the figures provided in the IPO update.
The share sale marks a major capital-market event for Reliance Industries, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and is its first IPO in two decades.
Institutional investors had bid for 2.8 times the shares reserved for them, while retail investors had subscribed to 0.14 times their allocated portion at that stage, exchange data showed.
Around one-third of the shares on offer have been reserved for retail investors.
The IPO values Jio Platforms at up to $108.3 billion. The company's shares are scheduled to begin trading on October 28, according to the information provided.
BlackRock, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among investors allotted shares
Ahead of the public issue, Jio Platforms allotted shares worth $853 million to global and domestic investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and BlackRock.
The allocation followed bids worth more than $25 billion for the portion reserved for these investors, according to the supplied IPO figures.
Jio Platforms houses Reliance's digital services business and is home to India's largest telecom operator, with more than 500 million subscribers. It has backing from major technology companies, including Meta and Google's parent company, Alphabet.
The IPO is also expected to test investor appetite for large share offerings at a time when markets are scrutinising technology companies and their exposure to artificial intelligence-related businesses.
Kamath says Jio's growth also benefits from India's digital infrastructure
Kamath's comments focused on the role of infrastructure in business success, rather than offering a view on the IPO's valuation or listing prospects.
“From the outside, it's easy to miss how much of our success depends on infrastructure built by others,” he wrote.
He added that it was significant that the capital markets helped by Jio and Airtel could now support Jio's own fundraising plans.