After sweeping the secondary market, the fear of missing out fever seems to have gripped the primary market, with corporates rushing to raise funds before the financial year ends this month.

Seven initial public offerings will raise ₹720 crore this week. Two companies will be listed on the mainboard, and five will be listed on SME exchanges.

Relentlessly rally and optimistic outlook for India despite the global challenges have pushed key benchmark indices to new highs.

Investors have ramped up equity investment, especially through mutual fund schemes, touching a new high and inflows through Systematic Investment Plan, hitting a record ₹19,187 crore amid rising concern over valuation.

Viraj Gandhi, CEO of Samco Mutual Fund, said inflows into equity mutual fund schemes have hit a 22-month high of ₹26,866 crore, powered by a huge ₹11,262 crore in sectoral funds.

He said the 20 NFOs raised ₹11,470 crore, including eight equity oriented schemes that attracted ₹8,692 crore in investment.

Of the seven upcoming IPOs, Popular Vehicles and Krystal Integrated are mainboard issues. The five SME IPOs include KP Green Engineering, Pratham EPC, Signoria Creation, Royal Sense and AVP Infracon.

The main board issues

Popular Vehicles & Services and Krystal Integrated Services will raise ₹600 crore and ₹300 crore, respectively, in the IPO which open for investment on Tuesday.

SME issuance

KP Green Engineering IPO will open for subscription on March 15 and will raise ₹184 crore.

Infrastructure and construction company AVP Infracon will launch its initial public offering (IPO) on March 13 to raise ₹52 crore at the upper end of the price band.

While the ₹36-crore SME IPO of Pratham EPC Projects, which opened on Monday, will mop-up ₹36 crore, Signoria Creation and Royal Sense IPOs will open for subscription on Tuesday and will raise ₹9 crore and ₹10 crore through the book-built issue.

Kresha Gupta, Founder, Chanakya Opportunities Fund, said about 40 companies have raised ₹1,406 crore so far this year and six companies have mopped up ₹194 crore in March alone.

“We expect this momentum to continue throughout the year, with an estimated 250 companies listing on the SME platform in 2024, compared to 184 in 2023. This rising SME IPO trend is crucial for India’s economic growth ambitions as they contribute 33 per cent of GDP,” he added.

This week, new listings on the main board include Bharat Highways InvIT, Zinc oxide manufacturer JG Chemicals, Rajkot-based ethnic and western snacks maker Gopal Snacks, and RK Swamy.

Five stocks, including Pune E-Stock Broking, Shree Karni Fabcom, Koura Fine Diamond Jewelry, Sona Machinery and V R Infraspace, will be listed on SME Exchanges this week.

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