BUYBACK BOOM

As India Inc embraces share repurchase amid regulatory clarity, favourable tax reforms and cash-rich balance sheets, are buybacks emerging as Corporate India’s preferred way to reward shareholders?

- By ASHISH SINHA [e-mail]

SHARE BUYBACKS are making a strong comeback in India’s corporate landscape, signaling a renewed focus on shareholder returns at a time when many companies are sitting on healthy cash reserves but facing uncertain growth conditions. The trend gathered pace in April and May 2026, with companies such as Wipro, Cyient, TeamLease Services and Aurobindo Pharma announcing buyback programmes worth thousands of crores of rupees.

Wipro’s Rs 15,000-crore buyback, which opens for shareholders in June 2026, has become the biggest talking point, reviving investor interest in a capital-allocation tool that had briefly slipped into the background amid regulatory and taxation changes.

A buyback occurs when a company purchases its own shares from investors, thereby reducing the number of shares in circulation. The immediate effect is often an improvement in earnings per share, return on equity and shareholder value, while investors receive an opportunity to exit at a premium.

In a market where shareholders are increasingly scrutinising how companies deploy capital, buybacks are emerging as a powerful signal that management believes its stock is undervalued and that surplus cash can be returned to owners rather than remaining idle on balance sheets.

For India Inc, which has emerged from the balance-sheet repair cycle of the past decade with significantly stronger finances, buybacks are once again becoming a strategic tool rather than a mere financial transaction.

Alternative to Dividends