India’s IPO boom did not stop so much as lose momentum and then change direction. Issuance cooled from October 2025 into early 2026, while mainboard fundraising surged again in July and August as delayed deals came to market. That rebound was not shared evenly: SME activity remained subdued, and first-day listing gains were weaker across FY2025-26 than in the prior fiscal year.
The numbers below cover different periods and measures. Fiscal-year totals, January and February monthly figures, and July–August fundraising should not be combined into a single 2026 year-to-date total.
What the 2026 IPO figures show
The slowdown appeared in monthly issuance data, but it did not erase a record fiscal year. SEBI reported that more than 100 mainboard IPOs had raised ₹1.8 lakh crore by February 2026 in FY2025-26. The National Stock Exchange’s later review counted 219 IPO listings and ₹1.8 lakh crore raised over the full fiscal year, comprising 108 mainboard and 111 SME listings.
| Measure | Reported figure | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| IPO fundraising | ₹5,533 crore across 18 IPOs | January 2026; SEBI |
| IPO fundraising | ₹4,650 crore across 17 IPOs | February 2026; SEBI, which described it as the second-lowest monthly mobilisation of FY2025-26 |
| Total IPO fundraising | ₹1.8 lakh crore | FY2025-26; NSE, across 219 listings |
| Mainboard fundraising | Around ₹26,500 crore in July and nearly ₹29,000 crore in August | July–August 2026; The Indian Express citing NSE data |
| Public-offering proceeds | $5.78 billion, versus $7.32 billion in the corresponding year-earlier period | Through Bloomberg’s 2026 reporting date; reported by Business Standard. This is a dated comparison, not a full-year 2026 total. |
The July and August mainboard figures together accounted for around 73% of approximately ₹75,518 crore raised so far in 2026, according to The Indian Express’s compilation of NSE data. That calendar-year measure is not the same as NSE’s full FY2025-26 total. No verified October 2026 all-market year-to-date total is available here, so the summer rebound should not be extrapolated into a full-year result.
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Why IPO activity cooled
Market conditions made pricing harder
SEBI’s February 2026 bulletin said IPO pricing and investor sentiment are closely influenced by secondary-market conditions. Its review linked elevated volatility and softer valuations with an absence of mainboard IPOs in April 2025; later, rising valuations and moderated volatility made conditions more conducive to issuance. SEBI interpreted the January 2026 moderation as potentially a valuation normalisation after a strong issuance cycle, rather than proof of a structural weakening. That is the regulator’s interpretation, not a settled explanation of what comes next.
Investors pushed issuers to adjust terms
Bloomberg reporting republished by Business Standard described local institutions as more influential buyers while foreign participation was subdued, making price negotiations tougher. Some companies reportedly reduced offer sizes, accepted lower valuations or delayed plans. Examples in the report include Manipal Health reducing its proposed raise to $960 million, Indo-MIM raising about $396 million against earlier ambitions of up to $700 million, and Juniper Green Energy cutting its planned offer from $314 million to $188 million. These are reported examples, not a complete sample of IPOs.
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Pratik Loonker, managing director and head of equity capital markets at Axis Capital, told Bloomberg that investors were becoming selective amid weaker risk appetite, volatile secondary markets and mixed post-listing performance. For an issuer, that can mean postponing a launch or revising its valuation rather than pressing ahead on the original terms.
Why issuance picked up again in July and August
The later surge in mainboard fundraising was partly a release of delayed supply. The Indian Express reported that some companies had waited through difficult market conditions and launched as their approvals approached expiry. It quoted Pranav Haldea, managing director of Prime Database, describing a pent-up pipeline and saying pressure from approvals lapsing contributed to IPO launches from July onward.
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The same report said SEBI extended the validity of certain IPO and rights-issue approvals that were due to expire from April through September, with the extension running through September 30 in light of the West Asia crisis. That was a time-limited measure, not an open-ended extension. The combination of a backlog, approaching approval deadlines and improved market conditions helps explain why a weak start to the year was followed by large mainboard issues.
Mainboard and SME IPOs followed different paths
It is misleading to describe the whole IPO market as either booming or stalled. SEBI’s February bulletin described subdued mainboard issuance alongside continued SME momentum at that point. Later, mainboard fundraising accelerated, while SME fundraising remained comparatively subdued. The Indian Express attributed SME weakness partly to tighter rules intended to protect investors; NSE’s full-year review also recorded lower SME listing counts and funds raised year over year.
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That divergence matters when comparing headline totals. A large mainboard issue can lift proceeds sharply even if the number of deals is limited, while a high count of smaller SME listings does not necessarily translate into comparable fundraising. The NSE’s FY2025-26 total of 219 listings includes both segments; it should not be read as a measure of mainboard activity alone.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Listing gains weakened even as fundraising stayed high
Fundraising volume and listing performance answer different questions. A listing-day gain, or listing premium, is the difference between the IPO issue price and the share price on its first day of trading. It does not establish whether the stock will perform well over a longer holding period.
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KPMG in India’s mainboard-only review put the average listing-day gain at 8% in FY2025-26, down from 28% in FY2024-25. In a separate, narrower monthly measure, SEBI reported an average listing-day gain of 12.6% for IPOs that listed in January 2026. These figures cover different samples and periods, so January’s result should not be treated as the fiscal-year average.
NSE’s March 2026 review provides another snapshot: of nine mainboard IPOs that month, two delivered listing gains, six debuted at a discount and one was flat. A one-month count cannot stand in for the whole year, but it illustrates why a record amount raised does not guarantee strong first-day trading.
What the offer mix says—and what it does not
KPMG reported that offers for sale accounted for 59% of mainboard IPO funds raised in FY2025-26. In an offer for sale, existing shareholders sell shares; the proceeds go to those selling holders rather than being raised by the company as fresh capital. The share of OFS proceeds therefore signals a material existing-holder sale component, but it does not mean every IPO was an exit or that the company received no fresh capital.
KPMG also found that 35% of FY2025-26 mainboard IPOs were PE-backed, compared with 28% in FY2024-25. That describes the share of issues in the review, not the share of all IPO proceeds or a verdict on the quality of those companies.
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- Check the segment: Mainboard and SME fundraising have not moved in lockstep.
- Check the measure: The number of offerings, amount raised and listing-day performance are distinct indicators.
- Check who receives the proceeds: Fresh issue funds go to the company; OFS proceeds go to selling shareholders.
- Check the time window: A monthly figure, a fiscal-year review and a calendar-year-to-date report cannot be compared without aligning dates and coverage.
- Separate debut performance from investment performance: A first-day premium says nothing by itself about longer-term returns or business quality.
The evidence supports an uneven cycle: cooling amid difficult pricing conditions, a backlog-driven mainboard rebound in midsummer, and weaker listing gains than the prior fiscal year. It does not establish that the slowdown was structural or determine how much India will raise in IPOs over all of 2026.
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