Indian firms recorded a record high in equity and debt market fundraising in the financial year 2024-25, defying market volatility, as per a new report published on Thursday.
PRIME Database data showed that public equity raising shot up by a whopping 92% to ₹3.71 lakh crore. Including rights issues, the overall figure reached close to ₹3.88 lakh crore. At the same time, debt raising also reached an all-time high of ₹11.12 lakh crore, dominated by private placements.
IPO Market Hits New Milestones
The IPO market showed unprecedented strength, with 78 companies raising ₹1.62 lakh crore collectively through mainboard IPOs—the highest-ever annual fund-raising. This was over 2.5 times the ₹61,922 crore raised in the last fiscal year.
Hyundai Motor India Limited took the top spot with the biggest IPO of ₹27,859 crore, followed by Swiggy at ₹11,327 crore and NTPC Green Energy at ₹10,000 crore.
Looking forward, the IPO pipeline is robust, with 49 companies already getting SEBI approval to raise ₹84,000 crore, and another 67 companies are pending clearance for an estimated ₹1.02 lakh crore.
Tech Startups Make a Comeback
New-gen technology companies staged a strong comeback, with eight such businesses raising a total of ₹21,438 crore—a staggering jump from ₹3,040 crore in 2022-23 and ₹5,544 crore in 2021-22.
Investor optimism was strong, as seen from 56 IPOs being more than 10 times oversubscribed, out of which 33 were over 50 times their issue size.
Retail Investor Participation Increases to Record High
Retail investors turned more enthusiastic with the average number of applications per IPO increasing to 21.33 lakh during FY 2024-25 from 13.15 lakh in the previous financial year.
IPO listings returned stupendous performance, with average listing gain reaching 30% compared to 29% during the previous year. Market adjustment in the latter half of the year notwithstanding, 46 IPOs still stay above issue price, providing a mean return of 15%.
Institutional Investors Overpower IPO Allocations
Foreign portfolio investors were instrumental, cornering 16% of IPO allotments with anchor investments, and mutual funds with 13%. Generally, Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) swept public issues, taking up 67% of the total allotment.
SME IPOs Witness Unprecedented Growth
The SME IPO segment also saw strong momentum, with 235 small and medium enterprises raising ₹9,133 crore—a 53% rise from last year. Retail investors were highly interested in SME IPOs, as evidenced by an average oversubscription level of 233 times.
Other Market Trends: OFS, QIPs, and Debt Fundraising
Offer-for-sale (OFS) deals saw a 29% increase, at ₹30,741 crore, with government divestments adding ₹4,359 crore.
Qualified Institutional Placements (QIPs) doubled more than twice, with 91 firms raising ₹1.43 lakh crore.
Debt fund raising continued to be robust, with ₹8,044 crore being raised via public bond issuances, while most of the funds were mobilized through private placements.
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