Is Indian primary mkt witnessing IPO bubble?

India’s IPO market in 2025 is breaking records- 93 mainboard listings have already raised Rs1.54 lakh crore, even surpassing 2024. November alone has mobilised Rs31,000 crore, with estimates touching Rs76,000 crore as fintech, renewables, healthcare, and consumer tech rush to tap the frenzy.

But beneath the hype, the cracks are widening. Average listing gains have fallen to a 3-year low of just 9.1 per cent. Only 3 of 93 IPOs turned multibaggers, and just 7 delivered over 50 per cent gains. Despite heavy oversubscriptions- Lenskart 28x, Orkla India 49x- half of this year’s IPOs slipped into negative territory within three months.

Capital is being aggressively diverted to the primary market, while demand-supply imbalances grow. Fundraising is rising, but returns are shrinking.

IPOs do fuel growth, but unchecked excitement can quickly turn into a painful correction—especially for retail investors. A trend worth watching closely.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, MV Hariharan, former Treasury head, SBI, says: “Currently markets are on turbo charged steroids fuelled by irrational exuberance. IPOs are betting on encashing the sentiments triggered by the volatilities.”

The statistics are a stark reflection and reminder of investors crowding in, on a wing and a prayer. Cluelessness is driving this second guessing. Bubbles are building and the froth in AI and related attractions are certainly causes for circumspection. But FOMO trumps, resulting in the current losses outstripping the gains. Greed Is Good anchors this trajectory, he said.

The Indian IPO market in 2l̥025 has shown resilience and strong activity despite global and domestic economic volatility. Key points on pricing and current valuations.

Anil Bhansali, Head of Treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors, says: “In the fiscal year 2025 (April 2024 to March 2025), India saw 80 mainboard IPOs raising about Rs1.63 lakh crore, significantly up from Rs619 billion in the previous year. This marks strong capital raising activity in a volatile market environment.”

The year featured diverse sector participation with technology, automotive, consumer discretionary, industrials, and financial services spearheading funds raised.

Listing day gains averaged around 29-37 per cent, with smaller IPOs (INR 50 billion) on average returns. Green energy and IT sectors saw notably strong listing day gains of over 35 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively. Despite a soft Q4/FY25 with only 11 IPOs due to some net foreign portfolio investor sell-offs, overall investor subscription levels remained healthy. QIB (qualified institutional buyers) and retail subscription oversubscription ratios averaged above 100x and 35x, respectively.

In the first three quarters of 2025, India raised approximately $11.5 billion through 79 IPOs, with expectations to reach over $20 billion for the full year, positioning India among the top global IPO markets.

Recent IPO listing performances in November 2025 had mixed results, with some IPOs like Workmates Core2Cloud gaining 90 per cent on listing day, but the general trend showed modest or low listing gains compared to earlier years, reflecting increased investor selectivity and valuation sensitivity.

The current valuation environment shows investors focusing more on business quality and cash flow predictability rather than purely growth narratives.

Overall, India’s IPO market remains dynamic with high volumes and fundraising but shows signs of maturing investor behavior with tighter valuation discipline.

Thus, Indian IPOs in 2025 have delivered robust capital raising with mixed but generally positive listing price performance, indicative of a maturing and resilient market with growing investor sophistication.