Indian IPO Market Defies Volatility, Sets Global Pace in FY26 Capital Raising
Although the Indian stock market has experienced heightened volatility throughout the fiscal year 2026, the initial public offering segment continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience, riding a sustained wave of capital-raising activity for unlisted stock investors. Companies spanning diverse sectors—from technology startups and fintech innovators to renewable energy enterprises—have confidently entered Dalal Street, utilizing public listings as a strategic mechanism to expand their operational scale and fuel growth ambitions.
Strong Investor Response Defies Expectations
Most recent issues have received exceptionally strong investor response, creating a notable market dynamic. Even big-ticket IPOs, which traditionally struggle to attract substantial attention in volatile conditions, have drawn robust demand, effectively flipping the usual market script. This sustained interest from retail investors, combined with vigorous participation from overseas institutional investors—despite rich valuations prevailing in the secondary market—has contributed to another exceptionally busy fiscal year for India's primary market.
Economic Survey Highlights Market Resilience
According to the comprehensive Economic Survey 2025-26, the Indian primary market remained remarkably resilient and vibrant through the first nine months of FY26, leading the world in IPO issuances. The authoritative report notes that this strong performance was fundamentally underpinned by sound macroeconomic fundamentals, robust investor participation across segments, and the continued fine-tuning of regulatory frameworks by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, despite facing significant global headwinds.
India's primary markets continued to attract both domestic and international investors in substantial numbers, reinforcing the country's position as a key driver of global capital formation. The report revealed that total resource mobilization from primary markets, encompassing both debt and equity instruments, stood at an impressive ₹10.7 lakh crore during FY26 up to December 2025.
Long-Term Capital Channelization Trends
The Economic Survey further highlights that from fiscal year 2022 through fiscal year 2026 up to December 2025, India's primary markets have been instrumental in systematically channeling domestic savings into productive investments. During this extended period, markets successfully mobilized a substantial total of ₹53 lakh crore through various equity and debt issuances. Of this significant amount, approximately ₹14 lakh crore was specifically raised through equity issuances, demonstrating the growing appetite for equity participation among Indian investors.
In terms of transaction volumes, the report stated that the number of issuances increased by a healthy 20% compared with the corresponding period of fiscal year 2025, while the total amount mobilized was 10% higher than the same timeframe in the previous fiscal year.
Main Board Listings Show Substantial Growth
Listings on the main board—the primary market segment reserved for established companies meeting stricter regulatory and size thresholds—rose significantly from 69 to 94 during the period under review. Concurrently, the amount raised through these main board offerings increased substantially from ₹1,46,534 crore to ₹1,60,273 crore, as detailed in the Economic Survey findings.
Offer for Sale Components Dominate Fundraising
The report also points to an interesting and noteworthy trend in contemporary fundraising patterns: the contribution of Offer for Sale components, where existing shareholders sell their stakes rather than the company issuing new shares, accounted for a dominant 58% of total proceeds. This indicates significant liquidity events for early investors and promoters alongside fresh capital infusion for growing companies.
SME Market Expands as Vital Launchpad for Entrepreneurial Growth
The number of small and medium enterprise listings in fiscal year 2026 up to December 2025 increased meaningfully to 217 from 190 in the corresponding period of fiscal year 2025, with the amount mobilized rising substantially from ₹7,453 crore to ₹9,635 crore.
Since its inception, more than 1,380 companies have been successfully listed on the SME platforms of both BSE and NSE, cumulatively raising over ₹35,000 crore. This highlights the expanding footprint of India's entrepreneurial base within the formal capital market framework. Of these, approximately 350 companies have subsequently migrated to the mainboard platform, underscoring the critical role of SME exchanges as a strategic stepping stone for high-potential firms with ambitious growth trajectories, the Economic Survey emphasized.
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