Mainboard IPOs raise record Rs 84,400 crore in H1 FY27, Grant Thornton says

A record half, concentrated in one quarter

Mainboard companies raised Rs 84,400 crore between April and September 2026, against Rs 64,900 crore in the same six months a year earlier. That 30 per cent rise made it a record first half, according to the Grant Thornton Bharat review 'India IPO Market: H1 FY27 and Q2 FY27 Review'. Seventy-one companies listed in the period, up from 55 a year earlier. The money did not arrive evenly. 94 per cent of it was raised in the July-September quarter. September alone carried 32 IPOs and Rs 40,400 crore. That was the highest amount recorded in a single month and more than half of Q2 fundraising.

Grant Thornton said the concentration shows how quickly the issuance window opened after a subdued first quarter. Karan Marwah, partner and capital markets advisory leader at Grant Thornton Bharat, said successful IPO execution is not only about choosing the right window, but about being fully prepared when it opens.

Who absorbed the supply

Grant Thornton's report said average listing-day gains rose to 18 per cent from 10 per cent a year earlier, and average retail oversubscription climbed to 28 times from 25 times. Domestic institutional investors recorded net equity inflows of Rs 1.69 lakh crore in Q2 FY27, against Rs 13,900 crore from foreign portfolio investors. The report said that domestic support helped the market absorb the issuance while the Nifty 50 fell 5.7 per cent in September.

Financial services accounted for 43 per cent of the capital raised. Capital goods led by issue count with 15 IPOs. Marwah said demand had become more discriminating.

"India's IPO market moved from caution to acceleration in Q2 FY27, helping deliver a record first half. While the scale of fundraising shows the market can absorb new issuance, investor demand stayed selective and increasingly focused on fundamentals, pricing, governance and the use of proceeds."

Two trackers, two totals

PRIME Database Group counts the half differently. It put mainboard fundraising at Rs 94,205 crore from 78 companies, 35 per cent above the previous all-time high of Rs 69,533 crore raised by 65 IPOs in the same period a year earlier. It put the average listing gain at 19 per cent, against 7 per cent in H1 FY26. PRIME's sample is the larger of the two, 78 companies against Grant Thornton's 71, and the two totals do not reconcile.

PRIME's retail figures come from a different sample. Retail investors applied for shares worth Rs 2.47 lakh crore across the 64 issues with subscription data, 181 per cent more than those issues raised. Of those 64, 42 drew more than 10 times cover, and 25 of those drew more than 50 times. Retail buyers received Rs 25,944 crore, or 28 per cent of total mobilisation, marginally above the 27 per cent share a year earlier. PRIME put average retail oversubscription at 29 times, against 23 times in H1 FY26.

PRIME also reported that foreign institutional investors pulled out Rs 2.32 lakh crore in H1 FY27, a period when the Nifty and Sensex gained just 1.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent.

The queue behind the record

PRIME counted 145 candidates proposing to raise about Rs 2.78 lakh crore with Sebi approval, and another 102 companies proposing to raise Rs 1.87 lakh crore awaiting the regulator's nod. Grant Thornton said 100 mainboard companies and 159 SME companies filed draft offer documents during H1 FY27.

Grant Thornton cautioned that a large pipeline may not translate into completed listings, particularly where regulatory approvals lapse or market readiness remains incomplete.