Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath has credited Reliance Jio, along with Airtel, for helping bring millions of Indians online and powering the expansion of the country's capital markets.
His comments came on the day the Rs 30,213 crore Jio Platforms IPO opened for subscription.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Kamath said India had roughly 2 crore unique investors in 2016, and that over 13 crore Indians now invest in the markets. "Jio played a big part in that," he wrote.
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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. Mukesh Ambani was #1, and I was #6, mainly because we had just made delivery brokerage free. We were, and still are, ants compared to Reliance/Jio. 😅 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. We've been beneficiaries too. @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. Together, all of this made the huge expansion of Indian capital markets after COVID possible. Without this digital infrastructure, many online-first businesses would be much smaller, and a lot of today's consumer business models might not exist at all. In 2016, India had roughly 2 crore unique investors. Today, over 13 crore Indians invest in the markets, and Jio played a big part in that. I can't tell you whether to apply for the upcoming IPO. But both telcos have played a huge role in enabling an entire generation of Indian businesses like ours. And it's nice that the capital markets they helped grow can now help Jio raise money. From the outside, it's easy to miss how much of our success depends on infrastructure built by others.
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) October 21, 2026
He recalled being named sixth on an Economic Times list of 10 businessmen to watch in 2016, with Mukesh Ambani ranked first.
Kamath said he was "petrified" to find himself on it, mainly because Zerodha had just made delivery brokerage free. "We were, and still are, ants compared to Reliance/Jio," he wrote.
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The ET list, which Kamath shared as images, noted that Zerodha's zero-brokerage model had upset traditional brokers. It put the firm's client base at over 96,000, with average daily turnover of Rs 8,000 crore.
The same list said Jio was targeting one million subscribers a day in its first 100 days.
Kamath said Zerodha "wouldn't be what it is today without Aadhaar and UPI", adding that Jio and Airtel were equally important because they brought millions online with affordable data.
Together, he said, this digital infrastructure made the post-Covid growth of Indian capital markets possible. He added that many online-first businesses would be much smaller without it, and that some consumer business models might not exist at all.
Kamath did not say whether investors should subscribe to the issue. "I can't tell you whether to apply," he wrote, adding that both telcos had enabled "an entire generation of Indian businesses like ours".
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He noted that the capital markets Jio helped grow can now help it raise money.
Jio Platforms set a price band of Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 per share for the fresh issue of up to 27 crore shares, which could raise about Rs 30,213 crore at the top of the band, making it India's largest IPO.
The issue runs until 23 October, with listing on the NSE and BSE expected on 28 October. The proceeds are primarily meant to repay borrowings of its telecom subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Closing his post, Kamath said it is easy to miss, from the outside, how much of a business's success depends on infrastructure built by others.
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