16 October,2026 01:20 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Jio Platforms Director Isha Ambani. Pic/PTI
Jio Platforms Director Isha Ambani on Thursday said a failed attempt to submit a college assignment due to internet issues sparked a conversation that eventually led to the creation of Jio, according to news agency PTI.
Addressing a press conference ahead of the Jio Platforms' IPO, she traced the origins of the telecom company to 2009-10, when she was unable to upload a college assignment.
"Let me begin by telling you the story about how Jio was born. It was about 2009-2010. Akash (her twin brother and Jio Platforms Managing Director) and I were in college in the States, and we were back home in Bombay (Mumbai) for a break. And I had an assignment to submit online. I tried to submit the assignment, but unfortunately, the internet did not work, and I couldn't submit it," she said.
She said that this led to deep conversations about why should India be left behind in the digital space.
"Why was it that we didn't have the same type of connectivity that we enjoyed in the West?" she said.
She said Akash believed that the solution was to create a digital technology platform company.
"Akash firmly believed that the answer and solution to this was creating a digital technology platform company. In 2016, Jio launched, and here we are today in 2026," Isha said.
She described Jio's journey as an extension of the Reliance philosophy of building businesses that entailed three pillars: long-term perspective, scale, and execution.
Invoking her grandfather Dhirubhai Ambani, she said, for him Reliance was never just a company but a promise that every Indian should share in the country's growth and prosperity.
"Three generations later," Isha said, she and her brothers Akash Ambani and Anant Ambani remain committed to the motto "Growth is life".
Jio Platforms, the digital services division of Reliance Industries will launch its initial public offering (IPO) on October 21, at a price band of Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 per share for the public issue.
The company will issue 27 crore fresh shares, about 3 per cent of the existing capital and at the upper end of the price band, it would raise around Rs 30,213 crore. This would make it the largest public issue in the country, ahead of Hyundai Motor India's Rs 27,870 crore share sale in October 2024.
According to red herring prospectus, proceeds from the issue will be utilised for prepaying borrowings of Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom subsidiary, and general corporate purposes.
The company's shares are expected to get listed on the stock exchanges on October 28.
(With inputs from PTI)
