Summary of this article
Retail individual investors under-subscribed 10 out of 18 mainboard IPOs
Investors have turned cautious amid broader volatility in markets
Retail investors have shown tepid interest in recently launched initial public offerings (IPOs), as high valuations and volatility in the secondary market trickled down to the primary market, with investors showing more caution. Overall, investors across classes have turned selective in picking primary market stock, showing a sharp contrast from the frenzy seen in the financial year 2024-25.
According to data from Prime Database, out of 18 mainboard issuances seen between January and March 2026, 10 issues showed the reserved quota for retail individual investors not getting subscribed fully. Within this, three of the issues saw retail investors subscribe only around one to two per cent, while the rest of the 10 issuances were subscribed between 7 and 73 per cent of the reserved quota for retail investors.
For example, Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions’ IPO worth Rs. 3,079 crore saw retail investors only subscribe to 6 per cent of their quota. Sedemac Mechatronics’ Rs. 1,087 crore worth IPO was subscribed around 19 per cent of the quota by retail investors.
Meanwhile, Shri Ram Twistex’s IPO garnered the most retail participation, with the category of investors booking around 73 times the reserved quota. This was followed by retail participation seen in Bharat Coking Coal’s IPO at around 47 times the shares reserved for them.
“With systemic liquidity tightening, investor demand is becoming more sensitive to valuation comfort, and near-term listing alpha expectations are likely to make flows increasingly selective and concentrated in fundamentally stronger offerings, until volatility subsides and normalcy is restored,” Pratik Loonker, managing director and head — Equity Capital Markets (ECM) and co-head — Financial Sponsors Group, Axis Capital, said.
Though demand from retail investors, and in some cases smaller non-institutional investors, was tepid, IPOs sailed through due to continued demand from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and high-net-worth individuals. Demand from QIBs was seen to have reduced for issuances in March as some of them faced liquidity issues nearing the end of the financial year.
IPOs have also seen muted demand as returns after these companies debuted in the secondary market slumped due to overall volatility across markets. Out of the 18 companies which made their debut on the NSE and BSE between January and March this year, a whopping 12 stocks opened below their issue prices in the primary market. In the case in point, shares of Shree Ram Twistex opened 29.4 per cent lower than the issue price, while Innovision shares opened 28.2 per cent lower. This was followed by Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions shares debuting 17.6 per cent lower and Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar (Exports) shares opening 17.2 per cent down from their issue prices.
Broader markets also showed a sharp fall during the year, with the Nifty and Sensex indices each plunging around 15 per cent this year. This was driven by geopolitical tensions and the ongoing Iran war, which increased volatility in Indian markets, coupled with fears of high valuations and muted earnings of Indian firms.
