After Meesho Ltd, Aequs Ltd and Vidya Wires Ltd announced their initial public offerings for next month, fundraising through IPOs has surged to an unprecedented high in 2025, surpassing last year’s record even with a full month still ahead.
Total collections have now crossed Rs 1.6 lakh crore—a new record—surpassing the Rs 1.59 lakh crore raised in 2024. Meesho is set to raise around Rs 5421 crore, Aequs Ltd plans to mobilise nearly Rs 921 crore, while Vidya Wires is expected to raise about Rs 300 crore through its IPO.
What makes this year’s surge more striking is that nearly half of the mobilisation has taken place since September. Moneycontrol earlier reported that another ten companies are lining up IPOs worth an estimated Rs 25000 crore, a pipeline that could propel the year’s tally toward a fresh peak of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore.
The year has also been notable for the sheer scale of investor exits. Promoters, private equity firms and venture capital funds have offloaded shares worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore through offers for sale, with December’s issues expected to push this even higher. In comparison, 2024 had seen Rs 95300 crore raised via OFS, against Rs 64500 crore from fresh issues.
Between 2021 and 2025, Indian companies mobilised Rs 5.4 lakh crore through public issues, of which Rs 3.37 lakh crore—nearly two-thirds—came purely via OFS exits, according to Prime Database. Fresh capital raised during the same period amounted to just Rs 2.03 lakh crore, or roughly 60 percent of OFS volumes.
Interestingly, the large wave of offer-for-sale exits by promoters, private equity funds and venture capital investors has not emerged as the main worry this time. Instead, it is the muted listing performance that has become the bigger concern for retail investors.
Average IPO gains, which climbed from 11 percent in 2022 to a robust 29 and 30 percent in 2023 and 2024, have slipped to a modest 9 percent so far in 2025. Only a handful of the year’s 91 listings have delivered returns above 50 percent, while most drifted into negative territory within three to six months—an important red flag for retail participants drawn by the record fundraising.
Against this backdrop, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has tightened rules for anchor investors, promoter stock options and disclosures, signalling a renewed push for transparency. Market experts say stricter scrutiny of filings, accounting practices, board structures and promoter track records will be essential to protect governance standards as the IPO market expands rapidly.
Globally, India ranks fourth in IPO volumes this year, according to a recent CITI report. The US leads with about $53 billion raised through new listings, followed by Hong Kong at $23.4 billion and China at $16.2 billion.
Back home, recent blockbuster issues—such as Groww parent Billionbrain Garage Ventures, education platform PhysicsWallah and fintech major Pine Labs—have helped bolster investor sentiment. Foreign investors, too, have played a significant role: despite selling nearly $24 billion in secondary markets, FIIs have infused $7.55 billion into primary issuances, underscoring their continued confidence in India’s equity markets.
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