- India's IPO process is slow, taking around nine months from filing to listing
- Long timelines cause price risk and outdated valuations at IPO launch
- Over 50% of large IPOs from 2023-25 trade below their issue price
India's IPO pipeline is stuck in an outdated, slow and risky process, said Dharmesh Mehta. He argued the long timeline between filing and listing makes India “the most inefficient” IPO market and exposes pricing to wild swings before a stock even reaches investors.
“You have to understand how the IPO works. There is such a somewhat inefficiency. There is so much price risk involved. So many days go in launching an IPO, almost nine months. Things change and that's why I said become a banker and you'll come to know how easy it is to price an IPO,” said the MD and CEO, DAM Capital Advisors, at the NDTV Profit Conclave.
Mehta said the nine month gap is one of the core reasons pricing often disappoints. Sentiment, earnings, macro signals and liquidity can shift sharply between the approval stage and listing day, making any original valuation outdated by the time the issue hits the market.
That frustration is visible in market outcomes. Over the last three years, about 496 companies now trade below their IPO price. Across 2023 to 2025, more than 51 percent of large IPOs with issue size of Rs 500 crore or more sit below issue price today. A six year scan shows about 180 of 374 IPOs under their offer price, with around 70 down 25 to 50 percent and 34 down more than 50 percent.
Even listing day performance has been shaky. In 2025, 33 of 103 IPOs delivered negative listing returns.
Peers at the panel said the search for returns in a flat market also shapes behaviour. N Jayakumar, Managing Director, Prime Securities, said, “People are trying to figure out ways to eke out returns in a period of 12 to 15 months when indices have done nothing. Fund managers are constrained. If they feel the grey market premium is strong, put in money and flip out. There is nothing wrong. They are trying to generate returns.” He added, “As far as IPO pricing is concerned, we will agree to disagree about the undervaluation. I have the greatest respect for Dharmesh, who is actually the IPO king today. There is nothing good or bad about this.”
Gurmeet Chadha, CIO and Managing Partner, Complete Circle, echoed that view. He said many managers flip when sentiment and GMP make it rational, adding there is “nothing good or bad” about the strategy if it fits the mandate. Mehta's core message still held. The IPO cycle needs a reset. Shorter timelines and clearer pricing could steady outcomes and restore confidence to a process he calls overdue for repair.
