The mother of all IPOs is here and this is only one among the many feathers in Reliance Industries’ wealth creation journey that has spanned not one, not two, but five long decades.
And the numbers are proof, that this wealth creation journey has minted some serious money for investors. A ₹1,000 investment made during Reliance Industries’ IPO back in 1977, is worth lakhs today. Here’s a look at the specifics.

Back in 1977, a ₹1,000 investment in the Reliance Industries IPO would have fetched you 100 shares, each carrying a face value of ₹10 each.
That ₹1,000 investment, without adjusting for dividends, now stands at nearly ₹50 lakh. The number is even higher, if we include the demerger and subsequent listing of Jio Financial Services as well.
Those 100 shares that an investor received during the IPO, are now 4,096 shares, having multiplied after every bonus issue given by the company starting 1980.

Reliance issued three bonus shares for every five shares held by shareholders twice – in 1980, and in 1983, which took the 100 share count to 256 shares.
Over the last three decades, Reliance has issued bonus shares on four occasions – 1997, 2009, 2017 and 2024, all in the ratio of 1:1, and those 256 shares, as a result, now stand at 4,096 shares.

Then comes the demerger and listing of Jio Financial. Shareholders received one share of Jio Financial for every one share of reliance industries they held as on the record date. That adds another ₹4.5 lakh to the overall value creation.
If that is not all, Reliance Industries as a stock has also outperformed Gold by a significant margin since its IPO.

Back in 1977, a ₹1000 investment would have fetched 20.58 grams of gold as the price of 10 grams of the yellow metal back then, stood at ₹486. Today, that 20.58 grams of gold is worth over ₹3 lakh, but the Reliance Industries shares, are worth over ₹50 lakh.
Jio platforms is on course to become the biggest IPO in Indian history and it will take some doing to surpass this feat in the near future. Where the stock goes, only time will tell, but marks yet another chapter in Reliance Industries’ wealth creation journey, one decade at a time.
NOTE TO READERS
Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd, which owns Jio, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust that controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.
Jio IPO a milestone in RIL’s wealth creation journey – A ₹1,000 investment in 1977 mints millions for shareholders

India bars sugarcane juice, syrup-based ethanol in 2026-27 tender; OMCs seek 1,100 crore litres
Oct 17, 2026

Can the Russia Sanctions Bill waiver by Donald Trump bring more relief to Indian markets?
Oct 17, 2026

A $2,000,000,000,000 fund may lift a self-imposed ban on Western defence stocks; Details here
Oct 17, 2026

IDBI Bank Stake Sale: Government cites 2018 court ruling to defend disinvestment
Oct 17, 2026
