India's 2026 IPO pipeline poised to exceed Rs 2.55 lakh crore amid strong investor demand

The initial public offering (IPO) pipeline of Indian firms has already topped the Rs 2.55 lakh crore mark for the upcoming calendar year, as the firms are trying to seize the buoyant investor demand.

In 2026, there are already 88 companies that have received the green light from SEBI to go public with offerings of around Rs 1.16 lakh crore, while an additional 104 companies are in the queue waiting for approval to raise nearly Rs 1.4 lakh crore.

IPO boom in 2025

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The explosion in the number of IPOs has also brought about the filing of an astounding 244 draft red herring prospectuses in 2025, the number being more than double the 157 filings recorded in 2024, according to the data available.

The Indian IPO market has really picked up after a blockbuster 2025 in which approximately 100 firms, the highest count in the past 18 years, went public and consequently, the mainboard offerings reached the record of Rs 1.77 lakh crore, marginally higher than 2024's collection, according to IANS.

The momentum is increasing as the total amount raised in 2024 from 91 IPOs is Rs 1.6 lakh crore, and the amount raised in 2023 from 57 IPOs is more than Rs 49,500 crore. Analysts believe the reason for the increase in activity is that the entire market is optimistic, there are active private equity and venture capital funds looking for exits, and most importantly, liquidity in the domestic market is abundant.

The year's fundraising took place in spite of the fact that the gains on the listings were muted, mainly because of the regular and constant participation of foreign portfolio investors, retail investors, high-net-worth individuals, and mutual funds during a time when the secondary markets were rather subdued.

So far this year, out of more than 300 firms that have been listed, nearly half are trading at prices that are lower than the offer price when the scrips were introduced.

Promoters, along with private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms, have altogether sold shares worth more than Rs 1.1 lakh crore through offers for sale (OFS) this year.

As per analysts, firms are taking the opportunity of high demand to secure financing before the global situation gets tighter, and India has made the process for companies to list easier and has started a stream of big-ticket deals.

So far this year, out of more than 300 firms that have been listed, nearly half are trading at prices that are lower than the offer price when the scrips were introduced.

SEBI reforms

In November, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposed major reforms to tackle the long-standing issues surrounding the locking-in of pre-IPO pledged shares and the simplification of public issue disclosures.

In response to instructions from the issuer, it suggested allowing depositories to classify pledged shares as 'non-transferable' for the lock-in period.