India witnessed 22 initial public offers (IPO) worth over $2.5 billion in the first three months of 2021 amid “high momentum” in the country’s capital markets. The trend is likely to stay bullish in the current quarter also, notes a report of leading consultancy EY India.

The report has showed that consumer products and retail, diversified industrial products, automotive and transportation were the most active sectors in terms of the number of IPOs in the 2021 first quarter. The IPOs include both in the main as well as SME (small and medium enterprise) markets. “With a robust Q1, IPO market is likely to stay bullish in Q2 2021,” the report has said, adding that India ranks ninth globally in terms of the number of IPOs year-to-date (YTD) 2021.

During the first quarter, Indian Railway Finance Corporation’s IPO, with an issue size of $634 million, was the largest. “In the main markets (BSE and NSE), there were 17 IPOs in Q1 2021 versus one IPO in Q1 2020 and 10 IPOs in Q4 2020, representing an increase of 1,600 per cent compared to Q1 2020 and an increase of 70 per cent compared to Q4 2020,” the report has added. 

In the SME segment, there were five IPOs in the first quarter of this year versus 11 and 9 IPOs in the first quarter of 2020 and fourth quarter of last year respectively. This represents a decrease of 55 per cent compared to Q1 2020 and a decline of 44 per cent compared to Q4 2020. “We are witnessing high momentum in the Indian capital markets. Significant amount of activity is driven by huge dry powder awaiting investment and companies exploring a listing in India or overseas.