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Jio aims for IPO by first half of 2026

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Meta and Reliance announce $100 million joint venture

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Google to establish Jamnagar Cloud region for Reliance

(Rewrites throughout, adds details on AI plans, analyst comment

in paragraph 5)

By Chandini Monnappa and Aleef Jahan C S

Aug 29 (Reuters) - Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries

is planning to take its telecoms and digital arm Jio

Platforms public by mid-2026, its chairman said on Friday, one

of India's most anticipated listings.

At its annual general meeting on Friday, Reliance also said

it was creating an artificial intelligence unit with Alphabet's

Google and Meta as strategic partners.

The group's billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani first flagged

plans in 2019 to list Jio within five years. On Friday he told

shareholders at the AGM that Jio is preparing to file for an IPO

next year.

Reuters reported exclusively in July that Jio had decided

not to launch its planned IPO in 2025. It was valued by analysts

at over $100 billion at that time.

Jio is not being fully valued within Reliance's broader

petrochemicals and retail portfolio, Saurabh Parikh, senior

analyst at ICRA, said, and a separate listing would help unlock

higher value for the telecom and digital unit.

Jio Platforms houses India's largest telecom operator,

Reliance Jio Infocomm, which has over 500 million users.

Backed by global investors including Meta, Google and KKR

, it has been central to Ambani's push to diversify

Reliance beyond oil and chemicals into consumer, retail and

technology, with AI now a key pillar of its growth strategy.

Reliance and Meta on Friday announced a new AI joint venture

with an initial investment of about $100 million. Meta CEO Mark

Zuckerberg told the AGM the new unit will deliver Meta's

open-source AI models to Indian businesses.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also told the AGM his company is

partnering with Reliance to use AI across its energy, retail,

telecom and financial services businesses, and will establish a

Jamnagar Cloud region dedicated to Reliance.

Reliance also outlined five priorities for Jio's next phase

of growth, which includes driving an "AI Everywhere for

Everyone" push and expanding operations overseas.