India's IPO market leads globally in 2025, momentum may continue in 2026, says Pantomath

India’s equity capital markets have experienced a significant transformation between 2020 and 2025, shifting from being a cyclical fund-raising avenue to a structurally deeper and more resilient platform, according to the Primary Pulse 2025 report by Pantomath Capital.

Pantomath Capital highlights that India’s IPO market is now in a structurally robust phase, leading globally by deal volume. The report states, "India’s IPO market has now entered a structurally stronger phase, emerging as the global leader by deal volume, with the country’s capital markets poised to facilitate close to Rs 4 lakh crore of capital formation in 2026, underscoring the growing depth, scale, and maturity of India’s primary market ecosystem."

Post-2020, India’s IPO ecosystem reached a decisive inflection point. Issuance volumes have risen sharply across both mainboard and SME segments, indicating a shift from opportunistic listings to sustained capital mobilisation and broad-based issuer participation. Notably, mainboard IPOs surpassed 100 in 2025 for the first time since 2007. India led the IPO charts by number in CY 2025 and ranked among the top three globally for IPO proceeds. Unlike markets dominated by a few mega listings, India’s IPO activity showed continuity across issue sizes, with strong growth in the Rs 100–500 crore and Rs 1,000–2,000 crore segments.

Investor participation has deepened across geographies. While Mumbai remains the primary anchor—accounting for about 37% and 38% of retail and HNI applications—there has been strong traction from Gujarat centres such as Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, and Mehsana. Non-metro markets like Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Kendrapara (Odisha), and Hisar (Haryana) have also emerged as contributors, highlighting the democratisation of equity investing beyond traditional hubs.

India is one of the few large markets where public markets play a meaningful role in growth financing. Primary market fundraising is equivalent to 49% of private capital raised, far higher than in the US (9%) and Europe (13%), where companies rely more on private capital and access public markets later.

This near-balance between public and private capital reflects robust domestic investor participation, supportive regulation, and issuer confidence in IPOs as a scalable funding route. By comparison, China’s public-market dominance (~1800%) and ASEAN’s ~71% highlight different capital-formation models. India’s approach underscores market maturity and a diversified growth architecture.

India’s IPO market today reflects structural maturity rather than cyclical exuberance. The simultaneous rise in issuance volumes, average deal sizes, and institutional discipline indicate a durable capital-raising framework, said said Mahavir Lunawat, CMD at Pantomath Capital. "As regulatory guardrails strengthen further, the pipeline visibility is encouraging, we expect more than Rs 4 lakh crore worth of IPO pipeline in 2026."

2025 marked a defining phase for India’s primary markets, with 373 IPOs—comprising 103 mainboard and 270 SME issues—mobilising Rs 1.95 lakh crore, underscoring both scale and breadth of capital formation.

Deal sizes have grown significantly. The average mainboard IPO size increased from Rs 1,100 crore in 2015–2019 to Rs 1,570 crore during 2020–2025 YTD, indicating stronger reliance on public markets for growth capital. SME IPO sizes more than doubled from Rs11 crore to Rs 24 crore, reflecting deeper capital absorption and broader investor participation.

Over the past decade, mainboard IPO fund-raising has grown at a 29% CAGR, anchoring overall capital mobilisation, while SME IPO fund-raising has expanded even faster at a 46% CAGR, reflecting a more inclusive primary market ecosystem.

Landmark deals set new benchmarks. Tata Capital’s Rs 15,510 crore IPO emerged as the fourth-largest in Indian history, demonstrating the market’s ability to absorb large, institution-led issuances. HDB Financial Services’ Rs 12,500 crore IPO in June 2025 became the largest bank-led IPO in India, reinforcing the growing role of listed capital markets in monetising mature NBFC platforms.

IPO-led exits regained prominence for private capital, with public markets emerging as the preferred exit route. In November 2025, 23 exits worth $3.2 billion (Rs 28,730.56 crore) were recorded, with IPOs accounting for $1.5 billion (Rs 13,468.12 crore) across seven exits—outperforming secondary sales and strategic exits. This reflects improved public market liquidity and stronger demand for well-priced, earnings-backed assets.

IPO activity was broad-based across size buckets. Between 2020 and 2025, the Rs 100–500 crore segment grew at a 58% CAGR, while the Rs 1,000–5,000 crore segment expanded at a 68% CAGR, indicating parallel growth in mid-sized and large issuances. Mega IPOs remained selective, with issues above Rs 5,000 crore accounting for only 8–14% of total IPO volumes, ensuring market activity was not overly dependent on episodic mega listings.

Capital raising increasingly supported growth, not just exits. Fresh issue components consistently accounted for ~35–40% of total IPO proceeds post-2021, signalling rising use of IPOs as growth capital rather than pure monetisation. Leadership in league tables was shared across banks and diversified financial services firms, indicating a level playing field where execution capability and scale drive outcomes.

 

(Note: $1= Rs 89.78 in this article)