Companies mopped up Rs 52,759 cr via IPOs till October: Nirmala Sitharaman

Companies raised a total Rs 52,759 crore via initial public offers (IPOs) till October in the current fiscal, which is higher than the funds raised through IPOs in the last financial year. Of the 61 companies that hit the exchanges till October of the current fiscal, 34 entities were small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as per Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s written reply in the Lok Sabha.

She noted that among 61 IPOs, 35 were below Rs 100 crore while four were in the range of Rs 100 crore and less than Rs 500 crore. As many as 22 IPOs were either equal to or more than Rs 500 crore. Among others, 10 out of the 61 companies were from the healthcare sector and 6 from “cement/constructions”.

Sitharaman mentioned that large number of manufacturing and service sector companies are coming up for listing on the bourses. In the last fiscal, 56 companies mopped up funds worth Rs 31,060 crore via IPOs and out of those, 27 were SMEs, the Union Minister said citing SEBI data.

Replying to a question on the challenges posed by the failed Paytm IPO for investors, the minister said that there is an impression that the IPO of One97 Communications, Paytm’s parent company, caused problems for investors, but no problems have been caused for them.

“It was subscribed more than what they went for,” Sitharaman said on Paytm’s debut on the BSE and the NSE. Paytm IPO received bids for 9.14 crore equity shares against an offer size of 4.83 crore shares and the price band was fixed at Rs 2,080-Rs 2,150 per share. The IPO worth Rs 18,300 crore was oversubscribed 1.89 times on its last day.

Sitharaman also talked about the steps taken to strengthen the infrastructure of trading platforms. “There are very many checks and balances and plan B, which are in place as a result of which I feel that measures are taken (in a) timely (manner)…. they are also taken by institutions with periodic trial and error kind of method. I am assured by the SEBI, NSE and BSE that they are taking all kinds of precautions… every time there is a periodic review and anything that has to be strengthened to make sure that it is digitally safeguarded is happening,” she said.

(With agency inputs)

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