2025 is turning out to be a blockbuster year for India’s primary market, with 94 initial public offerings (IPOs) debuting on Dalal Street till December 2, collectively raising around ₹1.54 lakh crore. With more than 15 companies looking to garner over ₹30,000 crore in December, the total fundraising for the year is set to surpass last year’s record high of ₹1.6 lakh crore.

What is noteworthy is that offer for sale (OFS) activity, where promoters or early investors divest their holdings, has surged to a record level in 2025, with shares worth ₹97,070 crore offloaded so far (as of December 2). This has surpassed the previous all-time high of ₹95,285 crore recorded last year.

OFS now accounts for nearly 63% of the ₹1.54 lakh crore raised through IPOs in 2025, making it one of the most OFS-heavy years in India’s listing history, according to data from Jaipur-based IPO Central.

In 2024, when IPO fundraising soared to a record high of ₹1.60 lakh crore, OFS remained strong at ₹95,285 crore, making up 59.6% of the total capital raised. Historical trends show that OFS has consistently played a dominant role in India’s primary market over the past several years. In 2020, OFS accounted for an extraordinary 86.7% of total IPO fundraising of ₹26,613 crore, driven by a smaller issue base. As IPO activity picked up in subsequent years, the share of OFS moderated but remained substantial: 63.5% in 2021, 70.2% in 2022, and 58.2% in 2023.

The market analysts say the spike in OFS reflects both the depth of domestic capital pools, led by mutual fund inflows, and the maturing of India’s startup and private equity ecosystem.

“The increased participation of promoters and investors on the OFS side of IPOs is indicative of the easy availability of capital in the primary market, primarily on account of mutual funds but also attributable to retail investors,” said Anil Sharma of IPO Central.

“Given the strong momentum behind SIP inflows, this trend is unlikely to peter out soon. On the contrary, we may see more listings of global companies’ Indian arms, following the leads of Hyundai, LG India and Tenneco,” he explained.

Industry experts argue that the dominance of OFS in recent IPOs is not a sign of deterioration in corporate fundraising quality, but rather a natural progression of India’s maturing capital markets.

“There’s often a perception that OFS is a bad thing because the money goes to promoters or early investors. But I don’t subscribe to that,” said Pranav Haldea, managing director of Prime Database Group. “What we’re seeing today is the evolution of India’s capital market ecosystem—where angel investors, VCs, and PE funds provide the early risk capital. Once companies mature and establish governance, they come to the IPO market.”

He added that giving early investors the opportunity to exit is essential. “Only then will they be able to raise more money to invest in the next set of companies.”

With abundant liquidity, stronger corporate earnings, and supportive policy signals, analysts anticipate that the IPO market will increasingly feature a more balanced blend of fresh capital issuance and promoter share sales in the years ahead.