Mainboard IPOs raised ₹44,451 crore in October; Jio accounted for 68%

Mainboard IPO fundraising rises 12.9% month-on-month, with Jio Platforms accounting for nearly 68% of the total, while SME fundraising drops 70% to ₹643 crore

While the fundraise by mainboard initial public offerings (IPOs) rose by 12.9 per cent in October to ₹44,451 crore on a sequential basis, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) IPOs raised ₹643 crore during the month, down 70 per cent from ₹2,125 crore in September, according to data from Prime Database group. 

So far in 2026, 109 mainboard issues have raised ₹1.58 trillion, against ₹1.76 trillion in all of 2025. SME issues stood at 193, mobilising ₹8,629 crore. 

 

While October witnessed 13 mainboard IPOs, with Jio Platforms Ltd being the largest, accounting for about two-thirds of the total funds raised, this was down from 34 IPOs in September, which raised ₹39,381 crore. While the mainboard IPO count in October 2025 stood at 10, the cumulative fundraise was ₹45,188 crore, according to Prime Database. 

Fresh capital raised in the segment stood at ₹34,801 crore, up 233 per cent from September and 257 per cent from a year ago. Offer for sale (OFS) proceeds were at ₹9,650 crore, down 67 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively. 

Jio’s anchor book stood at ₹8,110 crore, about 27 per cent of its ₹30,188-crore issue, the data showed. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) contributed ₹3,920 crore of the anchor book and mutual funds (MFs) ₹2,785 crore. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was Jio IPO’s largest single anchor investor at about ₹500 crore. 

Of the eight mainboard issues listed in October, six closed above their issue price on debut. Tonbo Imaging gained 62 per cent, followed by Jio (26.7 per cent) and HD Fire Protect (13.4 per cent). Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses fell 8.4 per cent, while Bonfiglioli Transmissions slipped 1.6 per cent. 

“Despite the broader market consolidation, geopolitical issues escalation, and high crude oil prices, the Indian primary market has been quite buoyant. With big names such as NSE and Jio hitting the markets after much anticipation, the digital revolution and the army of retail investors that joined the capital markets in the last two to three years have buoyed the IPO market, along with strong MF flows into these issues," said Kranthi Bathini, director, equity strategist at WealthMills Securities. 

“The primary market is receptive to companies like Jio and NSE with a strong pedigree and a national brand, even if they’re very large IPOs. There will always be room for good companies to come and list,” said Abhay Agarwal, founder and fund manager, Piper Serica. “Given that valuations have corrected for recent issues, the market is not going to be very receptive for loss making companies to list, but profitable firms with good financial fundamentals will see strong receptions,” he added. 

Based on adjusted market prices as of October 29, Tonbo traded 73.4 per cent above its issue price and Jio was up 27.2 per cent. The remaining five issues, from EAAA India Alternatives, Edelweiss’ India-based alternative asset management firm, BLS Polymers, SFC Environmental Technologies Ltd, M K Sons Fine Jewels Ltd and Bombay Coated & Special Steels, opened between October 26 and October 29. However, these are not yet listed on exchanges.  Together, these IPOs sought to raise ₹2,525 crore, calculated on the lower price band. EAAA will list on exchanges today, and its grey market premium (GMP) stood at 3.9 per cent, according to investorgain.com. 

The SME segment saw 13 issues raising ₹643 crore, down 69.7 per cent from ₹2,125 crore in September, when 52 issues hit the market. That was about three times the ₹208 crore raised through six issues in October 2025. Ravita Engineering Services’ ₹110-crore offer was the largest. 

Out of the four listed SME IPOs, only Ravita closed above its issue price (1.5 per cent). RK Fashion Accessories fell 7.3 per cent and Shellz India 5 per cent. 

“Going ahead, midcap and smallcap IPOs may lead the pack by and large. The largecap IPOs have all been listed at least as far as FY27 is concerned,” said Bathini, adding that a possibility of primary market moderation depends on the business models of IPO-bound companies. 

“It’s too early to say how 2027 will pan out. I think there'll be smaller IPOs, leading up to more issues around January or February 2027,” Agarwal added.