India tops the world with 80 listings as SMEs rush to go public

Globally, there were 310 IPOs in Q2 with proceeds totaling $39 billion. This was down 5 percent from last year.

The BSE and the NSE have jointly pushed India to the top of the global stock exchange rankings in terms of the number of initial public offers landing at bourses.

The Indian exchanges have defied the global downturn with 80 listings so far this year, which is a 33 percent increase over the 60 IPOs floated a year back. “The surge is largely due to SME IPOs showcasing the underlying entrepreneurial activity,” Ernst and Young said in a report.

The research house said funds raised so far this year totalled $2.1 billion, reflecting a 62 percent on-year decline, Q2 saw a shift towards larger deals than Q1, mostly from the industrials, health and life sciences, and technology sectors, including a fundraise of $638 million in April by an emerging asset class relating to an infrastructure investment trust.

The trend of fresh IPOs in India has been on a swing with the country continuing to widen its stake in the global IPO pie, from 6 percent in 2021 to 11 percent in 2022, and further to 13 percent year-to-date in 2023, the data shows.

“After a slow start to the year, IPO activity could rebound in the second half. With major risk factors fading, volatility back to a reasonable level, and interest rate hikes priced in, IPO-bound companies are seeking the right window with higher market liquidity," said Martin Steinbach, EMEIA IPO Leader for EY. "Investors are becoming more selective, taking advantage of a buyer’s market,” he pointed out.

Globally, there has been an improvement in IPO activities in the second quarter when compared with the first quarter of the year, and Q2 (June quarter) is on par with the year-ago period. There were 310 public issues in Q2 with proceeds totaling $39 billion. This was down 5 percent from the last year.