India’s IPO market has slowed in 2026 after two blockbuster years of fundraising, but a clear rotation is underway. The primary market is increasingly favouring industrial and manufacturing companies, pivoting away from post-pandemic consumer hype, buoyed by government policy push and infrastructure spending.
Companies raised a record ₹1.96 trillion through 91 mainboard initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2024, followed by another ₹1.76 trillion across a record 103 issues in 2025. However, activity cooled in 2026 amid volatile equity markets and geopolitical uncertainty, with 23 IPOs raising ₹21,506 crore so far.
A concentrated market
Despite the slowdown, the primary market continues to be dominated by a handful of sectors. Industrial, consumer discretionary, healthcare and financial services companies together accounted for 71% of mainboard IPOs between 2023 and 2025, and nearly 60% of the issues launched so far this year.
However, a Mint analysis of IPOs since 2020 captures the shifting trajectory of the two largest sectors. Industrial companies have cemented their position in new listings by volumes. According to the Prime database, they accounted for roughly 25% of all IPOs in both 2023 and 2025, 24% in 2024 and 22% so far in 2026. Conversely, consumer discretionary companies have seen their share collapse. The sector’s share plunged from 35% to just 13% in the last five years.
This trend marks a shift from the post-pandemic IPO era, when there was a strong demand for consumption-led, internet and other new-age businesses. Recent offerings from the industrial space include Ajax Engineering, Oswal Pumps, Aditya Infotech and Emmvee Photovoltaic Power. Meanwhile, the pipeline of consumer discretionary issues was driven by household or tech-enabled names such as LG Electronics India, Lenskart Solutions, Meesho and PhysicsWallah.
Policy push
Experts said the rise in industrial IPOs reflects both a stronger listing pipeline and changing investor preferences. Policy support, infrastructure spending and production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes have boosted manufacturing and capital goods companies, many of which are raising funds for expansion on the back of stronger order books and healthier balance sheets.
“The government’s manufacturing push, higher infrastructure spending and production-linked incentive schemes have created a strong base for industrial companies to grow,” said Prasenjit Paul, fund manager at 129 Wealth and research analyst at Paul Asset.
Besides, investor preferences have also shifted after sharp corrections in several richly-valued consumer and new-age companies. Investors now prefer businesses with more predictable earnings and stronger balance sheets. Policy support created the opportunity, while investor confidence shifted towards industrial businesses, he added.
According to Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, the IPO market is being reshaped by supportive government policies and changing investor preferences. “Strong public capex has created a deeper industrial pipeline, while muted returns, premium valuations and margin pressure in consumer businesses have led investors to shift from new-economy companies towards old-economy firms with expansion plans, strong order books and better earnings visibility,” he added.
Financials trail
The surge in industrial listing also runs parallel to a shrinking share footprint for financial services. The sector accounted for nearly a third of all IPOs in 2020, leading the primary market at that time. However, its share has since shrunk, settling into a modest 11-13% range annually over the past four years.
Meanwhile, healthcare has remained relatively resilient, accounting for 8-16% of IPOs annually. The contribution of companies from the information technology space has also recovered from a weak 2022. Their share rose from 2.5% to 9% so far in 2026 as more software and digital firms queued up for listing. This suggests that despite industrials grabbing the limelight, other heavyweights are also actively looking to tap the markets.
Echoing this view, Harshal Dasani, business head at INVasset PMS, highlighted that the smaller share of IPO issuance does not weaken the long-term growth potential of financial services, healthcare or select technology businesses. “Financial companies continue to benefit from rising credit penetration, deeper capital markets and the expansion of organised lending. Healthcare has long-term growth drivers such as hospital expansion, pharmaceutical outsourcing and increasing insurance coverage.”
The outlook for technology is more mixed. Traditional IT services companies face the risk of artificial intelligence-led pressure on revenue, while fintech, platform and digital-native businesses may continue to attract premium valuations.
“The IPO mix reflects which sectors are currently reaching listing scale, rather than the entire long-term opportunity. Industrials may be dominating issuance, but financials, healthcare and selective technology businesses continue to offer strong compounding potential,” Dasani said.