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IPO guides
Original explainers for retail readers in India. Each guide answers one question in full: how to apply, how to read GMP and subscription, how allotment is actually decided, and where mainboard and SME issues stop being the same product. They are education, not tips. 20 guides are on this page.
Basics
What is an IPO, in plain language
What an Indian IPO actually sells you, how the price band is set, and why a listing-day pop is not the same thing as a good business.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Mainboard versus SME IPOs
Why NSE and BSE mainboard issues and SME platform issues are different products, from minimum size and liquidity to how you should read a GMP.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
What happens on listing day
Pre-open auction, the first traded price, and why the grey-market premium you saw last night is not cash in your demat account.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
How book building sets the IPO price
Floor, cap, bids, and the single issue price that comes out of a book-built offer — and what happens when the book is thin.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
The IPO timeline, from filing to listing
DRHP, SEBI observations, RHP, anchor day, the bidding window, allotment, refunds, and the listing session — in the order they actually happen.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Applying
How to apply for an IPO with UPI and ASBA
The retail application path in India, from the broker screen to the UPI mandate, including cut-off bids and mistakes that get an application rejected.
10 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
How to read a DRHP without getting lost
A practical order for the draft prospectus: fresh issue versus offer for sale, objects, risks, financials, and the basis for the issue price.
11 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Price band, lot size, and the cut-off option
How the IPO price range is built, why your bank blocks the upper price, and when a specific bid price can knock you out of allotment.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
UPI mandates, blocked money, and IPO refunds
What the lien on your bank account means, when it should disappear, and what to do if an unallotted IPO still shows a block.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Reading the numbers
Grey market premium, explained without the folklore
What IPO GMP measures, how the estimated listing price is just arithmetic, and why the quote can disagree with the opening price.
10 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
How to read IPO subscription numbers
What QIB, NII, retail, and total multiples mean, why day-one figures lie, and how a crowded retail book changes the lottery.
10 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Anchor investors, and what their book actually proves
Who anchors are, when they bid, how lock-in works, and why a famous name on the anchor list is not a substitute for the prospectus.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
QIB, NII, and retail — who is bidding
The three books inside a mainboard IPO, the ₹2 lakh retail line, the NII split, and why employee and shareholder reservations are separate doors.
10 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
When an IPO is undersubscribed
What a subscription below 1× means, when a whole offer is withdrawn, and why a weak book is not automatically a bargain.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Allotment
How IPO allotment works for retail applicants
Why an oversubscribed retail book becomes a lottery for one lot, what the registrar actually does, and what “not allotted” means for your blocked money.
10 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
How to check IPO allotment status safely
Use the registrar named in the prospectus, ignore messages that ask for a UPI PIN, and know what to do if the lien does not release.
8 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Risk
Risks that sit inside SME IPOs
Larger minimum cheques, thinner trading, promoter control, and why an SME grey-market premium is weak evidence.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Using GMP without chasing it
A practical way to glance at grey-market premium after you have done the real reading, including a simple test for whether the quote is changing your decision.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Common IPO mistakes retail applicants make
Mandate errors, lottery myths, GMP chasing, SME size, and the other habits that turn a simple application into an expensive story.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026
Listing gains versus holding the shares
Two different bets that share one application form — a first-day sale, or an actual holding — and how to tell which one you placed.
9 min read · Updated 27 Sep 2026