India’s IPO market moves from momentum to maturity
India’s IPO market raised a record INR 190,000 crore across 366 listings in FY26, but the reception cooled: average oversubscription almost halved and listing-day gains fell to 7%. Grant Thornton Bharat reads the year as a shift from momentum to maturity.
The figures come from Grant Thornton Bharat’s [LINK naar: firmaprofiel Grant Thornton Bharat] IPO Trend Report for FY26. A total of 366 companies listed across the main board and SME segments during the year, together raising around INR 190,000 crore. The main board carried most of that weight: 109 listings brought in nearly INR 177,000 crore, a three-year high.
India also remained among the world’s leading IPO markets by volume. In March 2026 the country accounted for 14% of global listings. Yet for Grant Thornton Bharat, the story of FY26 is not the record but the reception: issuer quality, earnings visibility, governance and valuation discipline came to determine how offerings fared, a clear break with the liquidity-driven momentum of FY25.
A more selective investor
The pattern of demand changed underneath the headline numbers. FY26 saw a move away from retail- and non-institutional-investor-led momentum towards demand led by qualified institutional buyers. According to the report, investors placed greater emphasis on governance, earnings quality and pricing, rather than relying on growth narratives and abundant market liquidity.
That selectivity showed up in the subscription and listing metrics. Average oversubscription nearly halved to 39 times in FY26, from 71 times a year earlier, while the average listing-day gain dropped from 29% to 7%. The market kept buying – it simply stopped cheering.
The aftermarket told a similar story. The average annual performance of the year’s IPOs stood at minus 17%, a sign that strong subscription demand no longer guaranteed sustained returns. Smaller issues were hit hardest, with average listing gains of 2%, against about 11% for medium and large offerings.
What the money is for
Scrutiny also extended to how deals were structured. Offer-for-sale transactions continued to dominate main board fundraising, accounting for 61% of proceeds, although the share of fresh issues improved to 39%, from 35% in FY25.
Of the money raised, debt repayment was the largest single use at around 26%, followed by capital expenditure and expansion at about 21%. Investors, the report noted, increasingly read the balance between fresh issues and offers for sale as a signal of promoter alignment, capital use and post-listing conviction.
Where the demand sat
Financial services led FY26 fundraising with around INR 59,800 crore raised across 12 IPOs, while consumer services and consumer durables also drew strong interest. Capital-intensive and cyclical sectors such as power, telecom and textiles saw notably weaker debuts.
Looking ahead to FY27, Grant Thornton Bharat expects India’s primary market to remain constructive but measured. Six factors are likely to shape outcomes: market timing, valuation discipline, governance readiness, earnings visibility, institutional demand and post-listing communication. The broader direction, the firm concluded, is already set – India’s IPO market is moving from momentum to maturity.
