Indian companies raised a record Rs 40,355 crore through 32 mainboard initial public offerings (IPOs) in September 2026, the highest-ever monthly mobilisation through new listings, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) Monthly Bulletin for October 2026, reported by ANI.
Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat
The bulletin said September saw a sharp surge in primary-market fundraising overall, with companies raising a total of Rs 1,68,372 crore across equity, debt and trust structures — an increase of 22 per cent over the preceding month, driven by record IPO activity and a significant rise in corporate debt private placements.
Most of the mainboard money did not go to the companies themselves. "Mainboard IPO fundraising was largely driven by Offer for Sale (OFS) component, which accounted for 75 per cent of the total," the bulletin noted. The remaining 25 per cent was fresh capital formation, and 94 per cent of that fresh capital was raised by mainboard IPOs.
Apart from the mainboard, 38 small and medium enterprise (SME) IPOs mobilised Rs 1,684 crore in September, taking the two segments together to 70 IPO listings in a single month, ANI reported. Outlook Money's reading of the same bulletin put the combined IPO figure at Rs 42,039 crore and noted that rights issues raised another Rs 961 crore through 13 offerings.
Source: Outlook Money
Institutions led mainboard demand; retail led SME
Investor participation stayed strong but differed sharply by segment. In mainboard IPOs, Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), excluding other institutional investors, contributed 37 per cent of subscriptions, followed by non-institutional investors (NIIs) at 28 per cent and retail investors at 17 per cent. In SME IPOs, retail investors accounted for 48 per cent of subscriptions and NIIs for 32 per cent.
The bulletin said mainboard IPOs recorded strong listing-day performance, with average returns reaching as high as 76 per cent in certain cases, and that higher oversubscription was positively related to listing-day gains on the mainboard. SME IPOs, by contrast, saw higher volatility and less predictable returns, with several witnessing sharp price corrections on listing day despite substantial oversubscription — a risk the regulator flagged for smaller offerings.
Record fundraising in a falling market
The fundraising record came in a month when Indian equities corrected sharply: the Nifty 50 fell 6.1 per cent and the BSE Sensex declined 5.8 per cent in September. Sector-wise, mainboard IPO fundraising in FY27 up to September was concentrated in capital markets (36 per cent), healthcare services (10 per cent) and industrial manufacturing (9 per cent).
Globally, too, India stood out: the bulletin said India accounted for around USD 4.4 billion in global IPO proceeds during September, with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) hosting the world's second-largest IPO by proceeds that month, according to ANI's report of the bulletin.
Source: ANI via Devdiscourse