Airtel closes in on Jio ahead of mega IPO, market-share gap narrows to 1.3 percentage points

Ahead of its proposed mega IPO, Reliance Jio is facing intensifying competition from rival Bharti Airtel, which has steadily narrowed the gap in India’s mobile market. The difference between the two companies’ market shares fell to just 1.30 percentage points in August 2026, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Airtel’s gains, however, may have come partly at the expense of Vodafone Idea and BSNL rather than entirely from Jio.