MUMBAI: Companies are lapping up the qualified institutional placements (QIPs) route—the easiest and the shortest way to raise equity capital—like there is no tomorrow.
As many as 30 issuers—led by the Rs 25,000-crore issue by SBI being the largest-ever issue in the history of India Inc— have raised close to Rs 60,000 crore via this mode so far this year. In the whole of 2024, 95 issuers had collectively raised Rs 1.37 trillion.
Of the total so far, more than half—Rs 30,470 crore—came in from 10 issuers in July alone, taking the total QIP fundraising to a five-year high.
This also marks the strongest monthly performance since September 2020, when six companies had raised over Rs 39,000 crore via QIPs.
It can be noted that State Bank of India hit the capital markets on July 16 with India Inc's largest ever QIP issue worth Rs 25,000 crore, which is said to have received a whopping 4.1 times oversubscription at Rs 1.1 trillion from over 120 institutional investors. This is also the nation's largest lender's biggest issue and comes seven years after Rs 15,000 crore issue in June 2017, which then also was the largest QIP issue.
Though the bank, with a Rs 66-trillion balance-sheet, has not yet officially disclosed the details of the landmark issue, sources said it got over Rs 1.1 trillion in bids from over 120 investors. They include storied names such as LIC, which remains the largest institutional investor in the country, and also the SBI, owning 9.38% of the bank, after the government that owns 57.43%. The government's holding will come down by 3.47% post-issue.
The fundraise will add 60 bps to the core capital of the bank which was 14.25% as of March 2025.
While LIC is said to have pumped in Rs 5000 crore in to the bank's equity, the other investors include foreign players like the private equity giant Blackrock, London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace, and the US-based Millennium Capital Partners.
Domestic investors are led by SBI MAC (which owns 2.96% in the parent now), HDFC AMC (1.34%), ICICI Prudential AMC (1.67%), NPS Trusts (1.49%) Nippon Life AMC (1.21%) among others.
What is triggering the rush
Analysts attribute the strong QIP momentum to companies effectively tapping into institutional liquidity despite the fact that QIPs offer only moderate returns.
Another reason for the rush for QIPs over IPOs and secondary market purchases is more attractive valuations, access to quality stocks at issue prices, and strong post-listing performance. For issuers, QIPs are a faster and more cost-efficient route to raise growth capital or reduce debt, further aided by regulatory clarity and improved governance.
Apart from the SBI issue, other major QIP transactions during the month included CG Power raising over Rs 3,000 crore, Marathon Nextgen mopping up Rs 900 crore, and Navin Fluorine securing Rs 750 crore.
Additional participants in the July QIP spree include Phantom Digital, Shakti Pumps, Rajoo Engineers, and Tinna Rubber, among others, according to the data collated by Prime Database.
Before July, 2025 there were several large-scale QIPs. Biocon raised Rs 4,500 crore, Hitachi Energy collected Rs 2,500 crore, Ireda lapped up Rs 2,000 crore, while both UCO Bank and Capri Global Capital secured Rs 2,000 crore each. In June alone, seven companies raised over Rs 14,084 crore.
So far in 2025, 30 issuers have mopped up a little over Rs 60,000 crore via QIPs, building on the strong momentum from 2024, when 95 firms collectively raised over Rs 1.37 trillion.