India has retained its position as the world’s leading market in terms of the number of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), while ranking third globally in the amount of capital raised through IPOs, highlighting the growing depth and resilience of the country’s capital markets.
The achievement was highlighted in the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s Annual Report for 2025–26, released this week.
Despite considerable volatility in international financial markets, geopolitical uncertainty and fluctuations in foreign institutional investment, India’s primary equity market remained exceptionally active during the financial year.
According to SEBI, India witnessed a record 366 IPOs during FY2025–26, collectively mobilising approximately ₹1.9 lakh crore.
The figures underline the transformation of India’s equity market into one of the world’s most active platforms for companies seeking public capital.
Record 366 IPOs in FY2025–26
SEBI data show that IPO activity reached unprecedented levels during the financial year.
The 366 public issues comprised both large mainboard companies and smaller enterprises accessing the dedicated SME platforms of Indian stock exchanges.
Of these:
- 109 were mainboard IPOs
- 257 were SME IPOs
- Total capital mobilisation was approximately ₹1.9 lakh crore
- Mainboard IPOs accounted for roughly ₹1.7–1.8 lakh crore
- SME IPOs mobilised about ₹11,588 crore
The number of SME offerings reached a historic high, demonstrating that India’s public markets are increasingly being used not only by large corporations but also by growing small and medium-sized businesses.
SEBI described FY2025–26 as a year in which the Indian primary market reached unprecedented heights in both capital mobilisation and market participation.
India No. 1 Globally by IPO Volume
India’s large number of offerings placed it at the top of the global IPO rankings by number of issues.
This is significant because some of the world’s largest financial markets—including the United States, China, Hong Kong and European exchanges—compete for global listings and capital.
India’s leadership by IPO volume reflects the breadth of its corporate ecosystem.
The country has listings ranging from major corporations raising thousands of crores of rupees to smaller manufacturing, technology, consumer, healthcare and services businesses raising capital through SME exchanges.
India’s IPO ecosystem therefore differs from markets where a smaller number of extremely large offerings account for most capital mobilisation.
Third Globally in Money Raised
While India led the world in the number of IPOs, it ranked third globally in IPO proceeds, according to SEBI’s assessment.
The distinction is important.
India’s leadership in the number of listings reflects the broad pool of companies entering the public market, while the third-place ranking in capital raised demonstrates that the country is simultaneously capable of absorbing major multi-billion-dollar offerings.
During the year, four Indian IPOs exceeded ₹10,000 crore each, according to SEBI’s market review.
This ability to absorb large offerings even amid volatile global financial conditions suggests considerable depth in India’s domestic investor base.
Calendar 2025 Also Demonstrated India’s Global Leadership
The strength seen during FY2025–26 was also visible in calendar-year global comparisons.
According to NSE data, India recorded around 367 IPOs during calendar year 2025, accounting for approximately 28.4% of global IPO volumes.
This effectively meant that more than one in every four IPOs worldwide occurred in India during the year.
Indian companies raised approximately $22.9 billion through IPOs during calendar 2025.
By proceeds, India ranked behind the United States and Hong Kong but remained ahead of most other major international markets.
The combination of high listing volume and substantial capital mobilisation has consequently established India as one of the most important primary equity markets globally.
Mainboard IPOs Break Fundraising Records
Large-company listings were particularly significant during FY2025–26.
SEBI reported that the mainboard segment crossed the 100-IPO mark, while the amount mobilised reached an all-time high.
Mainboard companies collectively raised approximately ₹1.7 lakh crore or more, depending on the precise classification and reporting cut-off used.
The year also showed that Indian markets were capable of absorbing several exceptionally large offerings.
This is an important measure of capital-market maturity because very large IPOs require participation from domestic mutual funds, insurance companies, foreign institutions, wealthy individual investors and retail investors simultaneously.
SME IPO Market Reaches Historic Scale
The SME segment provided another important part of India’s IPO story.
SEBI’s April 2026 market review recorded 257 SME IPOs during FY2025–26, raising approximately ₹11,588 crore.
SME exchanges were created to provide smaller companies with an alternative route to equity financing.
Instead of depending entirely on bank credit, private equity or promoter financing, eligible companies can use public markets to raise growth capital.
The expansion of SME listings therefore widens access to market-based finance for smaller Indian businesses.
It also increases the diversity of companies available to investors, although SME IPOs generally carry higher liquidity, valuation and business risks than established mainboard companies.
Domestic Investors Become Increasingly Important
Perhaps one of the most important structural developments highlighted by SEBI is the growing role of domestic institutional investors (DIIs).
According to the regulator’s annual report, domestic institutional investors’ shareholding in Indian equities reached a record 17% by March 2026.
At the same time, foreign portfolio investor ownership declined to a 15-year low.
This represents a significant change in the structure of India’s equity markets.
Historically, large movements in foreign institutional capital could have an outsized influence on Indian stock prices.
Today, growing investment through mutual funds, insurance funds, pension funds and other domestic institutions provides a much larger counterweight to foreign capital movements.
The development potentially makes India’s markets more resilient when global investors withdraw funds from emerging economies.
Mutual Funds and SIPs Strengthen Domestic Capital
The expansion of India’s mutual fund industry has played an important role in this transformation.
SEBI said mutual fund participation continued to expand during FY2025–26, with especially strong growth coming from Tier-3 cities and smaller urban centres.
Average monthly contributions through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) rose to a record of more than ₹16,400 crore.
SIPs allow households to invest fixed amounts in mutual funds at regular intervals.
Millions of Indians contributing relatively small amounts every month collectively create a large and comparatively stable source of capital for Indian equities.
This steady domestic flow has helped change the balance of power in Indian financial markets.
Retail Participation Also Expands
Retail investors are increasingly participating directly in India’s IPO market.
SEBI noted increased individual retail participation in mainboard IPOs during FY2025–26.
Digital demat accounts, mobile brokerage platforms, online banking, UPI-based IPO applications and simplified investment processes have made stock-market participation substantially easier than it was a decade ago.
This democratisation of market access is contributing to the enormous number of public issues that Indian exchanges are now capable of supporting.
However, rapid retail expansion also creates a need for stronger financial literacy and investor protection.
Financial Influencers Become Major Factor
One particularly striking finding in the SEBI report concerns the influence of social media.
According to the regulator, approximately 62% of retail investors are influenced by financial influencers, commonly known as “finfluencers”, on social-media platforms.
The trend has attracted regulatory attention because online financial recommendations can range from legitimate educational material to misleading investment promotion and undisclosed commercial endorsements.
With millions of first-time investors entering financial markets, SEBI has been strengthening measures aimed at limiting misleading investment advice and protecting retail participants.
Corporate Bond Mobilisation Declines
The annual report also presents a more mixed picture outside the equity market.
While IPO activity remained exceptionally strong, mobilisation through corporate bonds declined by 8.4% to approximately ₹9.1 lakh crore.
It marked the first annual decline in corporate bond mobilisation in four years.
Public debt issuances, however, increased by almost 39%.
This suggests companies continued to use debt markets, although the composition of borrowing shifted during the year.
Municipal Bonds Gain Momentum
One of the more interesting developments was the expansion of India’s municipal bond market.
Municipal bodies raised around ₹1,756 crore through 14 bond issues during the year.
Municipal bonds allow urban local bodies to raise money from capital markets to finance infrastructure such as water supply, sewage systems, roads, public transport and other civic projects.
India’s municipal bond market remains relatively small compared with mature economies, but rising issuance could eventually provide cities with an important alternative to government grants and traditional bank financing.
SEBI Introduces Closing Auction Session
SEBI also announced significant changes to India’s market infrastructure.
Among them is a new Closing Auction Session (CAS) designed to improve end-of-day price discovery and bring Indian market practices closer to those used by major international exchanges.
Closing prices are important because they are used to value mutual funds, institutional portfolios, index funds, derivatives and several other financial instruments.
A structured closing auction can reduce the influence of isolated trades immediately before the market closes and provide a broader mechanism for determining the day’s final price.
Project Jagrook to Strengthen Investor Awareness
With India’s investor population expanding rapidly, SEBI is increasing its focus on investor education.
The regulator outlined several initiatives for the coming year, including Project Jagrook, aimed at increasing public awareness of financial markets and investment risks.
SEBI also plans an AI-enabled WhatsApp investor-awareness initiative, allowing financial education and regulatory information to reach a much wider population through one of India’s most widely used communications platforms.
Other planned reforms include simplified nomination procedures and mechanisms intended to make investor services easier to access.
SEBI Setu and Greater Digitalisation
Another planned initiative is the SEBI Setu portal, part of the regulator’s broader effort to digitise securities-market regulation and interactions with market participants.
Digital regulatory infrastructure can reduce paperwork, improve compliance monitoring and enable faster communication between investors, intermediaries and regulators.
The initiative forms part of the continuing technological modernisation of India’s financial-market architecture.
India to Pilot Tokenisation of Corporate Bonds
SEBI’s future plans also include a pilot project involving the tokenisation of corporate bonds using distributed ledger technology.
Tokenisation involves digitally representing financial securities on blockchain-style infrastructure.
If implemented at scale, distributed ledger technology could potentially make the issuance, ownership transfer and settlement of securities faster and more efficient.
The pilot reflects India’s attempt to adopt emerging financial technologies while keeping them within a regulated securities-market framework.
IPO Growth Reflects Broader Transformation of Indian Finance
India’s global IPO leadership is part of a much larger structural shift in the country’s financial system.
For decades, Indian companies depended predominantly on promoters and banks to finance expansion.
Public capital markets are now playing a much larger role.
Companies can increasingly access funding through:
- IPOs
- Follow-on public offerings
- Qualified institutional placements
- Corporate bonds
- REITs
- Infrastructure Investment Trusts
- SME exchanges
- Private placements
The result is a deeper financial system in which household savings can flow more directly into productive businesses and infrastructure.
India’s Domestic Savings Becoming Market Capital
The rapid expansion of domestic mutual funds and retail investment has particular significance for India’s economic development.
Household savings historically concentrated heavily in bank deposits, physical gold and property.
A gradual shift towards equities, mutual funds, pension products and other financial assets means a larger proportion of domestic savings can enter capital markets.
These funds can subsequently finance businesses seeking factories, technology, acquisitions, infrastructure and expansion.
This provides an increasingly important domestic source of long-term capital.
A Global Capital-Market Powerhouse Emerges
India’s 366 IPOs in FY2025–26, around ₹1.9 lakh crore raised, world-leading position by IPO numbers and third-place global ranking in proceeds represent more than a record year for stock-market listings.
They illustrate the increasing scale of India’s financial system.
The rise of SME listings shows capital-market access spreading deeper into the corporate economy. Record domestic institutional ownership demonstrates the growing strength of Indian savings. Expanding mutual fund participation shows that investors outside traditional financial centres are becoming part of this ecosystem.
At the same time, SEBI’s emphasis on investor education, regulation of financial influencers, digitalisation and new market infrastructure acknowledges the risks that accompany such rapid expansion.
India’s IPO boom is therefore not simply a story about companies listing on stock exchanges.
It represents the emergence of a much broader, domestically supported and increasingly sophisticated capital-market ecosystem, capable of putting India at the forefront of global public-market activity.
References
News on AIR / Akashvani News — India retains top position globally in IPOs: SEBI report
7 August 2026
https://newsonair.gov.in/india-retains-top-position-globally-in-ipos-sebi-report/
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) — Annual Report 2025–26
Securities and Exchange Board of India
https://www.sebi.gov.in/
SEBI Monthly Bulletin — April 2026
Capital Market Review: FY2025–26 primary-market activity
https://www.sebi.gov.in/
National Stock Exchange of India — Primary Market Review / IPO Market Data
https://www.nseindia.com/
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