IPO Market Split: QIBs Dominate Mainboard, Retail Investors Drive SME Listings In August

The month of August 2025 witnessed a sharp divergence in India’s primary market trends, with qualified institutional buyers consolidating their dominance in mainboard offerings, while retail investors increasingly steered momentum in small and medium enterprise listings, revealed NSE's Market Pulse report.

The share of QIBs in mainboard IPO allocations rose to 57% in August, up from 51% in July, as per the report. Retail individual investors moderated slightly to 28.5% from 29.2%, while non-institutional Investors edged higher.

In contrast, SME listings on the NSE Emerge platform saw a more retail-driven profile. RIIs’ allocation jumped to 37.8% in August from 34.6% a month earlier, while NIIs also improved their share to 21.3% in comparison to 18.7% in July. Meanwhile, QIB participation eased to 35.3%, compared with 39.5% in July, signalling a more balanced mix of investor categories in the SME segment.

Equity fundraising trends diverged sharply between segments. Proceeds from SME IPOs on Emerge surged 40% month-on-month to Rs 843 crore, the second-highest this year, even as mainboard issuances fell sharply.

Fundraising via mainboard IPOs dropped 78% to Rs 8,029 crore, the lowest in three months, amid global uncertainty triggered by additional US tariffs and weaker investor sentiment.

Overall, total mobilisation through equity and debt slipped to Rs 1.1 lakh crore in August. Yet, the resilience of SME issuances underscored strong confidence among issuers and sustained appetite from retail investors.

The month of August also saw 31 companies debut on the NSE — the highest in nearly a year — collectively adding over Rs 84,000 crore in market capitalisation.

In the first five months of this fiscal, as many as 90 companies have listed across both mainboard and SME platforms, together raising over Rs 54,000 crore. Consumer Discretionary, Financials, and Industrials emerged as key contributors.