Jio Platforms, backed by Reliance Industries, has set a global benchmark in the primary market, being the first initial public offering (IPO) ever to receive over 1 crore applications.The milestone was reached on Friday, with four hours left for bidding, as investors rushed to take part in one of India’s most closely watched public offerings.The previous record was held by Waaree Energies, which secured around 97 lakh applications in its three-day subscription window. Bajaj Housing Finance and Bharat Coking Coal followed next, receiving almost 90 lakh applications each.The Rs 30,200-crore IPO has garnered a total demand of approximately Rs 7.4 lakh crore, which includes interest from anchor investors along with bids collected by the second day of public subscription.Jio Platforms has distributed shares valued at Rs 8,109.85 crore to 212 anchor investors at the upper limit of its price range, following institutional interest for the offering hitting Rs 2.5 lakh crore, over 30 times the amount present in the anchor book.On the third day of public subscription on Friday, investors also sought shares valued at Rs 4.9 lakh crore (based on the upper limit of the price range of Rs 1,065-Rs 1,119). Investors placed bids exceeding 22 times the available shares. The demand positions it as the most valuable bid among Indian IPOs that collected over Rs 15,000 crore, according to the data.The segment set aside for qualified institutional buyers was subscribed 70.55 times, receiving bids for 345.75 crore shares compared to 4.9 crore shares available.Demand from non-institutional investors also increased, with their share being subscribed 14 times. The retail portion was subscribed at 2.72 times, receiving bids for 23.11 crore shares compared to the 8.5 crore shares allocated for that category. Reservations from employees and shareholders were oversubscribed 2.93 times and 7.6 times, respectively.The firm plans to allocate as much as Rs 27,500 crore from the funds to pay off debts at Reliance Jio Infocomm, its fully owned subsidiary. The remaining funds will help in capital spending, such as investments in technology and digital services, as well as working capital needs.Managing Director Akash Ambani said Jio Platforms is focusing on technology, artificial intelligence, and cloud services to promote expansion beyond telecommunications.The demand scale underscores investor enthusiasm for Jio’s established telecom operations and its plans to grow in digital services and technology infrastructure. The fresh funding will help in reducing debt at its operating subsidiary and offer resources for upcoming investments.