Sebi sees potential for Rs 2 lakh crore IPO fundraising as fresh capital gains prominence

India could see companies raise as much as Rs 2 lakh crore through initial public offerings going forward, with a significant share of the capital raised through the primary market flowing directly into businesses, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Tuesday.

Around Rs 60,000 crore has already been raised through IPOs in the financial year 2026-27, with about 55% of the proceeds representing fresh capital going to companies, Pandey said at the 11th J.P. Morgan India Conference.

“Potentially, around Rs 2 trillion can be raised through IPOs,” Pandey said, highlighting the growing role of India’s equity markets in funding corporate expansion.


India’s equity market has a market capitalisation of around $5 trillion, while more than Rs 100 lakh crore has been raised through equity and debt issuances over the past decade, according to Pandey.

The Sebi chairman said the regulator’s approach to capital formation has been to make access to public markets simpler and faster by removing requirements that add time or cost without providing commensurate investor protection.

Processes have been rationalised, disclosures simplified and requirements calibrated to the size and nature of issuers, he said.

Pandey also highlighted the growing depth of India’s corporate bond market. Outstanding corporate bonds have risen to around Rs 61 lakh crore from about Rs 20 lakh crore in 2015-16, while more than Rs 43,000 crore has been raised through corporate bonds in 2026-27 so far.

The expansion in capital markets has been accompanied by a sharp increase in domestic investor participation. India now has around 149 million unique securities-market investors, while mutual fund assets have nearly tripled in five years to about Rs 87 lakh crore from Rs 37 lakh crore.

Foreign portfolio investors remain a significant part of the market, with assets under custody of around $818 billion, or about Rs 7.8 lakh crore. FPIs turned net buyers of Indian equities for the second consecutive month in August, while primary market issuances have continued to attract foreign investors.

Pandey said Sebi’s regulatory approach would continue to focus on reducing unnecessary friction, deepening markets and maintaining safeguards proportionate to risk.

The regulator is also examining measures to widen global market access, including simpler digital onboarding for persons resident outside India and wider FPI participation in non-agricultural commodity derivatives.

On corporate bonds, Sebi is working on a market-making framework aimed at improving liquidity, market infrastructure and repo access, while also considering measures to widen distribution through regulated online bond platforms.

“India’s opportunity rests on economic scale, growing domestic savings and increasingly deep capital markets,” Pandey said. “Our task is to translate these strengths into productive investment.”