Market maturity fuelled India's IPO boom, say i-bankers

The domestic initial public offering (IPO) market is experiencing a significant surge, fuelled by the financialisation of savings, digital ease of investing, and expanding participation from both retail and institutional investors, investment bankers said on Wednesday.

- BS REPORTER

(From left) Sonia Dasgupta, MD & CEO, investment banking, JM Financial; Gesu Kaushal, MD & co-head, equity corporate finance, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company; Sunil Khaitan, MD & head -- financing, Goldman Sachs India; and Amitabh Malhotra, head -- global banking, HSBC India

The depth of the domestic capital pool has reduced India’s reliance on foreign institutional investors, enhancing market stability, a sentiment echoed by most panellists during a discussion moderated by Samie Modak of Business Standard.

Sonia Dasgupta, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of investment banking at JM Financial, noted that liquidity generated from post-pandemic financialisation of savings, coupled with repricing in the secondary market, deepened the domestic equity capital markets.

Gesu Kaushal, MD & co-head of equity corporate finance at Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, said the broader adoption of digital payment methods like UPI for IPO applications has democratised participation, expanding capital sourcing from regions like Bihar and UP. Market infrastructure improvements, such as shortened IPO listing timelines and streamlined processes, are also boosting market buoyancy.