335 IPOs raised Rs 1.95 lakh crore in 2025; new age sectors, young firms drive IPO boom

The Indian IPO market achieved another record year in 2025, raising Rs 1.95 lakh crore through more than 365 IPOs, surpassing the prior record of Rs 1.90 lakh crore in 2024 from 336 IPOs. Mainboard listings contributed 94% to the total, maintaining their dominant position from the previous year, as highlighted by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

According to Motilal Oswal, this remarkable growth in IPO fundraising is underpinned by evolving Indian equities and robust fund inflows. The diversity of sectors participating in IPOs over the past two years signals a positive trend for capital markets, broadening opportunities for investors. As stated, "This diversification is, in our opinion, a positive indicator for the Indian capital markets, as it offers investors multiple opportunities to participate in India's growth narrative."

Motilal Oswal's analysis spans IPO, QIP, and OFS issuances over the last two years, comparing their performance to listing and offer prices. The mainboard's significance is evident, with Rs 1.83 lakh crore raised in 2025 across 106 mainboard IPOs, while 259 IPOs were listed through SMEs.

Sectoral contributions shifted year-on-year, with NBFCs (26.6%), Capital Goods (9.5%), Technology (9.2%), Healthcare (6.4%), and Consumer Durables (6%) dominating new listings in 2025. In contrast, 2024 saw leading shares from Automobiles (19.3%), Telecom (11.8%), Capital Goods (9%), Retail (8.7%), and E-Commerce (7.6%). Motilal Oswal noted that Telecom, Utilities, and Private Banking, which contributed nearly 18% to fundraising in 2024, saw no IPO activity in 2025.

Motilal Oswal's research highlighted that younger companies are playing a crucial role in the IPO landscape: "We analysed IPOs by company age on an aggregate basis over the last two years and observed that young companies under 20 years of age contributed ~53% (INR2t) of the INR3.8t total IPO funds raised across India in the last two years, representing 508 listings.

Oversubscription levels remain robust. Motilal Oswal reported, "On an aggregate basis, IPOs have been oversubscribed ~26.6x during the last two years, raising INR102.4t vs. the offer size of INR3.8t." Mainboard IPOs saw 21.5x oversubscription, while SME IPOs saw 113.2x. Of all IPOs, 226 received more than 100x oversubscription, with 203 from the SME space. Among the top 20 companies by size, two saw over 50x oversubscription, while one saw less than 2x.

Regarding post-listing performance, "During the last two years, 197 mainboard IPOs have been listed. Of these, 108 (55%) IPOs are trading at a premium to their offer prices, with 14 trading at a premium exceeding 100%." Among the top 20 by issue size, 16 are trading above their offer prices. Bharti Hexacom leads with a 214% increase from its offer price, followed by Waaree Energies (+104%), Meesho (+82%), Vishal Mega Mart (+75%), Billionbrains Garage (+66%), Bajaj Housing (+37%), and LG Electronics (+37%).

Debut performance was also notable: "Within the top 20, the leading debut performers were Bajaj Housing (+136%), Waaree Energies (+55%), Meesho (+53%), LG Electronics (+48%), Vishal Mega Mart (+44%), Bharti Hexacom (+44%), and Billionbrains Garage (+31%). Notably, only one company in the top Hyundai Motor (-7%) debuted at a discount." Five of the 197 mainboard IPOs debuted with a premium of over 100%, while 51 debuted at a discount. Among SME IPOs, 28 out of 500 debuted with a premium over 100%, while 119 debuted at a discount.

SME IPOs have outperformed since listing. The aggregate market capitalisation of all SMEs has increased by 10% from the listing day, while mainboards have risen by 3%. Large-cap stocks have risen 13% since their listing, while small-cap stocks declined by 2%. Mid-cap stocks have edged up by 1%. Sector-wise, 50% of sectors are trading above their listing day prices. Telecom (+64%), Logistics (+26%), Consumer (+17%), E-Commerce (+15%), and Metals (+15%) are the top performers, while Utilities (-26%), Cement (-19%), Hotels (-18%), Chemicals (-12%), and Infrastructure (-11%) lag behind.

2025 was an uneven one where grey market premiums and social media hype proved to be poor indicators of returns. It was a reminder to investors that valuation discipline is a very important factor while investing in any company and one should participate in IPOs not based on hype, but after a brief understanding, said Kresha Gupta, Director & Fund Manager at Steptrade Capital.

"Ultimately, this year taught investors that consistent returns come from understanding the business, comparing valuations to peers, and assessing promoter intent and use of proceeds. IPOs that raised fresh capital for expansion and showed promoter commitment through longer lock ins fared better, whereas heavy OFS driven offers lacked long term conviction," she said.

Motilal Oswal expects the fundraising momentum to persist: "We expect the fundraising through IPOs to maintain its momentum going forward. Indias domestic retail investors have continued to demonstrate strong confidence in Indian equities, consistently investing through SIPs into mutual funds. Consequently, DIIs have remained robust buyers, investing a net $87 billion in CY25YTD about 39% higher than the $63 billion net flows recorded in CY24. This strong demand has broadly offset the supply of new issuances. While growth has remained a favoured theme among Indian investors, the market now offers a broader range of opportunities. Numerous new-age themes have emerged, and we recommend a strong overweight allocation to some of these themes, such as quick commerce, renewable energy, and mobile app ecosystem-based business models."