Outlook 2026: IPO market poised for take-off with a ₹2.65 lakh crore pipeline

After a record-setting 2025, India’s IPO market is showing no signs of fatigue. From a staggering pipeline of over 200 companies awaiting regulatory clearance to rising average issue sizes and disciplined institutional participation, market experts believe 2026 could mark another milestone year for equity capital formation, with fundraising expected to approach ₹4 lakh crore.

According to Pranav Haldea, Managing Director of PRIME Database Group, the IPO pipeline remains staggering. As of now, 96 companies proposing to raise around ₹1.25 lakh crore have already secured SEBI approval, while another 106 companies seeking to mobilise approximately ₹1.40 lakh crore are awaiting clearance.

In addition, several companies, including 85 new-age technology firms planning to raise nearly ₹1.50 lakh crore, are preparing to file their offer documents.

“If valuation discipline is maintained by issuers and the secondary market continues to remain stable, even if not overtly bullish, the next few years could mark a golden era for India’s IPO market,” Haldea said.

Capital formation seen touching ₹4 lakh crore

Mahavir Lunawat, CMD of Pantomath Capital, also expects a strong year ahead, projecting close to ₹4 lakh crore of capital formation through equity markets in 2026.

Emphasising structural maturity over cyclical exuberance, he said, “The simultaneous rise in issuance volumes, average deal sizes and institutional discipline points to a durable capital-raising framework. With regulatory guardrails continuing to strengthen and pipeline visibility improving, we expect over ₹4 lakh crore worth of IPO activity in 2026, supported by strong domestic participation and selective global capital.”

Neha Agarwal, MD & Head of Equity Capital Markets at JM Financial Institutional Securities, said 2025 was defined by a broader issuer mix, strong investor appetite and more accommodative pricing.

“The market performance in 2025 was marked by a wider spread of issuances involving mid-sized and growth-stage companies, robust investor appetite, and pricing of IPOs being more accommodative,” she noted.

The surge, Agarwal said, was driven by entrepreneurial dynamism, ample domestic institutional liquidity and participation from a wide range of sectors, including new-age technology, renewable energy, BFSI, consumer and industrials.

She expects the momentum to carry into 2026. “Powered by strong market fundamentals and positive investor sentiment, 2026 is expected to emerge as another memorable year for IPO fundraising,” Agarwal said, adding that the IPO boom has become structural rather than cyclical, with companies increasingly adopting capital markets as a core funding strategy.

However, she advised investors to remain valuation-conscious and focus on sectoral strength, earnings visibility and the intended use of proceeds, reiterating that IPOs are inherently long-term investments.

2025 breaks IPO records

2025 emerged as a watershed year for India’s IPO market, setting new records across both fundraising and issuance volumes. A total of 103 Indian corporates raised an all-time high of ₹1,75,901 crore through mainboard IPOs during the year, around 10 percent higher than the previous peak of ₹1,59,784 crore mobilised by 91 IPOs in 2024.

Over the past decade, India’s IPO fundraising - across mainboard and SME issues - has expanded nearly 12-fold, rising from ₹13,874 crore in CY2015 to about ₹1.95 lakh crore in 2025, mobilised through 373 IPOs, including 103 mainboard and 270 SME issues.

A key milestone was achieved in 2025 as mainboard IPOs crossed the 100-issue mark for the first time since 2007, underscoring the scale and depth of the market revival. India also topped global IPO rankings by number of listings in calendar year 2025 and featured among the top three markets worldwide in terms of IPO proceeds.

Importantly, fresh issue components have consistently accounted for 35–40 percent of total IPO proceeds since 2021, signalling a growing preference for IPOs as a source of growth capital rather than merely an exit route for existing shareholders.

One of the most notable structural shifts has been the rise in average deal sizes alongside higher issuance volumes. The average mainboard IPO size increased from about ₹1,100 crore during 2015–2019 to nearly ₹1,570 crore during 2020–2025 (YTD). SME IPO sizes more than doubled from ₹11 crore to ₹24 crore.