(Reproduced from original article in Outlook Business)
The Modi mania pervading the markets is yet to make its way to the corner of the Street that deals with new floats. The Sensex has scaled 6,500 points since last September and 3,500 points since late February to touch 25,228 as on June 10, but the initial public offering (IPO) market continues to remain sluggish. The trend has continued from 2013, which saw only three companies raising Rs 1,283 crore, compared with Rs 6,768 crore raised in 2012. IPOs worth Rs 60,000 crore — including GMR Energy’s Rs 1,450-crore issue — have been withdrawn over the last couple of years amid fears of low investor confidence. A look at the Sebi website shows no new draft red herring prospectuses have been filed since April 2014. Continue reading