Foreign investors have shown a strong preference for India's primary market, channeling $4.9 billion into initial public offerings, which sharply contrasts with the $28.9 billion outflow from the secondary market. The momentum in primary market in...
ET Intelligence Group: Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) continued to show interest in India's primary market in the first eight months of 2026 at a time when global geopolitical uncertainties have affected their secondary market inflows. They have invested $4.9 billion (₹45,848 crore) in the IPOs so far this year compared with $4.7 billion (₹40,309 crore) in the comparable period of the previous year.
In contrast, they were net sellers of equities worth $28.9 billion (₹2.7 lakh crore) in the secondary market, far higher than the outflow of $19.6 billion (₹1.7 lakh crore) in 2025 till August-end.
Foreign investors put in $4.9 b so far this year, up from $4.7 b in the year-ago periodThe FPI inflow in the primary market has gained traction since July when they pumped in $1.4 billion (₹13,468 crore) followed by $1.3 billion (₹12,265 crore) in August. This coincides with a higher momentum in the domestic primary market, which has raised ₹51,101 crore in the two months to August from 35 IPOs.
In July, the year's two largest IPOs so far were launched including those of SBI Funds management at ₹9,796 crore and Manipal Health Enterprises at ₹9,275 crore. This formed 69% of ₹73,673 crore raised in the first eight months of 2026 from 62 IPOs.
In the first eight months of 2025, though the number of IPOs was lower at 49, the money raised was similar at ₹71,954 crore, driven by large IPOs including that of HDB Financial Services, which raised ₹12,500 crore and Hexaware Technologies, which mopped up ₹8,750 crore.
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In the secondary market, momentum is gradually catching up as FPIs are showing renewed interest against the backdrop of a sell-off in the Asian markets including South Korea and Taiwan where semiconductor stocks are losing ground amid uncertainties over the sustainability of the capital expenditure on the artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
