Mumbai, India — Jio Platforms Limited has appointed Pankaj Mohan Pawar as its Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Kiran Thomas in the leadership role. Pawar assumed charge on March 24, 2026, a day after Thomas stepped down, according to details disclosed in the company’s Draft Red Herring Prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
The regulatory filing identifies Pawar as a Key Managerial Personnel of Jio Platforms. He will continue to serve as Managing Director of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, the telecommunications subsidiary of Jio Platforms, alongside his responsibilities as CEO of the parent digital-services company.
Pawar, 53, has been associated with the Reliance Group since 2000 and brings close to three decades of experience in developing and scaling consumer and digital-services businesses. He has held multiple leadership and board-level responsibilities across Reliance’s telecommunications, retail and digital businesses. He was appointed Managing Director of Reliance Jio Infocomm in June 2022 and has served as a director of Jio Platforms since November 2019.
His appointment provides leadership continuity across Jio’s connectivity and digital-services operations as the company expands its offerings across mobile and fixed broadband, cloud services, enterprise connectivity, digital entertainment, artificial intelligence and consumer technology platforms.
The company’s IPO documents state that Jio Platforms plans to continue expanding its mobility and home-broadband businesses, deepen its enterprise customer base, take its digital platforms to international markets and use artificial intelligence to build autonomous platforms across connectivity and other enterprise sectors.
Pawar replaces Kiran Thomas, who had served as CEO of Jio Platforms before resigning from the position on March 23. Jio Platforms’ annual report for FY2025-26, approved in April 2026, lists Pawar as Chief Executive Officer, Mathew Oommen as Group Chief Executive Officer and Saurabh Sancheti as Chief Financial Officer.
The appointment was disclosed as Jio Platforms progresses with its proposed public offering. The company filed its draft IPO documents with SEBI in June 2026. The final timing, price band and other terms of the offering will depend on regulatory approvals and subsequent company decisions.
Jio Platforms Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, operates across digital connectivity and technology services. Through Reliance Jio Infocomm and its other businesses, it provides mobile and fixed broadband, enterprise connectivity, cloud, entertainment, Internet of Things, security and AI-enabled services. The company reported serving 524.4 million customers in India as of March 31, 2026
