Jio Q3 FY26: 5G Momentum Drives Growth, EBITDA Margins Expand to 51.8% as Subscriber Base Crosses 515 Million

Reliance Industries’ digital arm, Jio Platforms, delivered a strong performance in the December quarter, emerging as the key driver of the group’s Q3 FY26 results as faster 5G adoption, higher average revenue per user (ARPU) and solid fixed-broadband additions lifted telecom margins.

The momentum in digital and consumer businesses helped Reliance report consolidated revenue of about ₹2.69 lakh crore and EBITDA of ₹50,932 crore, even as profit attributable to owners stood at ₹18,645 crore and the consolidated EBITDA margin eased to 17.3%.

Jio Financials

Jio Platforms reported operating revenue of around ₹37,262 crore and gross revenue of about ₹43,683 crore for the quarter. EBITDA rose to roughly ₹19,303 crore, translating into a margin of nearly 51.8%, up about 170 basis points year-on-year. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) recorded operating revenue of about ₹32,751 crore, with EBITDA in the ₹18,400–₹18,900 crore range and margins expanding to roughly 56%.

Management attributed the improvement to steady subscriber additions, tariff hikes and premium product bundling, including offers such as extended access to Google Gemini Pro for 5G users. ARPU increased to about ₹213.7 during the quarter, reflecting stronger monetisation.

Jio Rising User Base

Subscriber metrics underscored the operating momentum. Jio’s total user base rose to around 515.3 million, with net additions of about 8.9 million in Q3. The company reported roughly 253 million 5G users, adding nearly 19 million during the quarter, and more than 25 million fixed broadband connections. JioAirFiber expanded to about 11.5 million homes. Data usage continued to climb, with total consumption touching around 62.3 billion GB and per-user monthly data usage rising to about 40.7 GB.

Reliance Retail also supported consolidated performance, benefiting from festive demand and posting near-single-digit revenue growth as footfalls and online activity improved. The consumer business helped cushion the impact of volatility in other segments.

The oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business however, saw mixed trends. Revenue increased on higher production, but refining and petrochemical margins remained volatile amid weaker fuel cracks. At the group level, higher depreciation of about ₹6,939 crore and increased finance costs of roughly ₹2,140 crore further weighed on net profit growth, tempering the overall earnings outcome despite strong operational momentum in digital services.