Reliance Industries (RIL) has appointed Akash Ambani as managing director of Jio Platforms for a five-year term, effective April 9 this year, as the group prepares for the proposed listing of its digital business that could become the country’s largest initial public offering (IPO).
The appointment was approved by the board on April 9 and has been filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, subject to shareholder approval, people aware of the matter said.
Akash Ambani was earlier executive director on the board of Jio Platforms and currently serves as Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, the group’s telecom arm.
The move comes at a crucial stage for Jio Platforms, which is targeting a listing in the first half of calendar year 2026 after Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced the plan at RIL’s annual general meeting last year. The proposed IPO is expected to raise around Rs 50,000 crore, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Leadership Continuity
Those close to the development said the elevation was aimed at providing leadership continuity and investor confidence ahead of the listing, with both the chairman and managing director roles remaining within the Ambani family. Akash Ambani has increasingly taken charge of the group’s digital and telecom initiatives over the past few years, particularly during Jio’s nationwide 5G rollout and its expansion into newer technology areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure and enterprise digital services.
He joined Reliance Jio Infocomm as a non-executive director in 2014 after graduating from Brown University and took over as chairman of the telecom business in 2022. Since then, he has emerged as one of the key faces of Reliance’s technology ambitions as the company seeks to position Jio beyond telecom into a broader digital platforms and services business.
Valuation Tug-of-War
The appointment also comes amid renewed discussions around the structure and timing of the proposed IPO. According to reports, Reliance was reconsidering the issue structure and may opt for a larger fresh issue of shares instead of a predominantly offer-for-sale route that was initially being explored. The rethink is understood to be linked to valuation discussions with existing investors and broader market conditions.
Reports also said some early investors were seeking a more aggressive valuation for the business, while Reliance was taking a calibrated approach amid concerns over post-listing performance in several recent large IPOs. Under a fresh issue structure, the proceeds would flow directly into Jio Platforms instead of providing exits to existing shareholders.
The company is also understood to be in discussions with global technology firms, sovereign wealth funds and private equity investors as it finalises the contours of the issue. Some recent brokerage estimates have valued Jio Platforms at between $200 billion and $240 billion.
Jio Platforms had raised over $20 billion from investors, including Meta, Google, KKR and Silver Lake in 2020, in one of the largest private fundraising exercises by an Indian technology company. Since disrupting the telecom market with low-cost data services in 2016, Jio has steadily expanded into digital applications, cloud services, enterprise offerings and AI-led platforms.