Amid mega NSE IPO, big question remains — Do big IPOs guarantee big returns? Performance of past heavy-sized IPOs

NSE IPO news: The public issue will open on 17 September 2026 and will remain open until 21 September 2026.(Photo: AI-generated)AI Quick ReadNSE IPO latest news: The initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India is set to hit the Indian primary market on 17 September 2026, i.e. on Thursday this week. The biggest stock exchange of India has already declared the NSE IPO price band at ₹1700 to ₹1785 per equity share. Tipped as the biggest public issue of India ahead of the RHP filing, the book-building issue is no longer the biggest-ever Indian public issue. Now, it is the second-largest IPO in India after Hyundai Motor India's IPO.

Amid this mega IPO buzz, the biggest question is: do big IPOs guarantee big returns, too?

To answer this question, we need to look at recently listed large-sized IPOs and their performance. Looking at the performance of the Tata Technologies, LIC, Hyundai Motor India, and Paytm IPOs, it would be worth it, as the NSE IPO opening date is fast approaching.

The initial public offering (IPO) of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India hit the Indian primary market on 4 May 2022 and remained open until 9 May 2022. The LIC IPO price band was 902 to ₹949 per equity share. The LIC IPO was an entirely OFS, with the Government of India (GoI) as the selling shareholder. The LIC OFS size was ₹20,557 crore. However, the LIC IPO listing date was a big disappointment for investors across categories, as it listed on the NSE at ₹872 and closed at ₹875.25, with an intraday high of ₹918.95 and a low of ₹860.

LIC shares ended at ₹403.80 per share on the NSE on Friday last week. On 29 May 2026, LIC shares traded ex-bonus in a 1:1 ratio. Post-bonus shares, the adjusted price of the LIC shares suggests a 52-week high of ₹468.48 and a 52-week low of ₹360.75. So, keeping the 1:1 the bonus shares in calculation, the LIC shares are still a loss-making affair for the lucky allottees, who still hold the insurance stock.

The ₹18,300-crore Paytm IPO was one of the most ambitious in the Indian primary market at the time. The fintech company's public issue was a mix of fresh shares and an OFS, with ₹8,300 crore raised through fresh shares and ₹10,000 crore reserved for the OFS route. The initial offer was made available at a price band of ₹2,080 to ₹2,1050 per equity share.

Paytm IPO hit the Indian primary market on 8 November 2021 and remained open until 10 November 2021. Paytm shares had a discounted debut on Dalal Street, opening on the NSE at ₹1,950 and finishing at ₹1,560.80 per share on the share listing date, after making an intraday high of ₹1,955 per share. The downtrend in Paytm shares continued, and its 52-week low is ₹930.60 per share on the NSE. Paytm's share price ended on Friday at ₹1,817 on the NSE, still ₹333 below the upper price band of ₹2,150 in its IPO. So, after nearly five years of share listing, Paytm shares are still trading below their upper price band.

The Tata Group company hit the Indian primary market on 22 November 2023 and remained open until 24 November 2023. The book building issue was made available at a price band of ₹475 to ₹500 per equity share. Tata Technologies' IPO size was ₹3,043 crore, entirely through an OFS.

The Tata Group company had a dream debut on Dalal Street, doubling lucky allottees' money by listing at ₹1,200 on the NSE and ₹1,199.95 on the BSE. So, the Tata Group IPO delivered a robust multibagger return to the lucky shareholders on the listing date. However, the stock failed to sustain at the higher levels. Tata Technologies shares ended at ₹765.60 apiece on the NSE last Friday, leaving long-term investors highly disappointed, as the stock had once traded above ₹1200. However, the stock is still trading above its upper price band of ₹500.

Hyundai Motor India's IPO is India's biggest-ever IPO with a size of ₹27,859 crore. The public issue hit the Indian primary market on 15 October 2024 and remained until 17 October 2024. The book building issue was made available at a price band of ₹1865 to ₹1960 per equity share. The public issue was completely an OFS. The biggest Indian IPO till date had a discounted debut on Dalal Street, listing on the NSE at ₹1,934 and on the BSE at ₹1,931.

Hyundai Motor India's share price closed at ₹2,179.40 on the NSE last Friday. The stock has a 52-week low of ₹1,658 and a 52-week high of ₹2,890. This means Hyundai Motor India's share listing was disappointing for the short-term investors who applied for the IPO for listing gain, but a long-term investor had the final laugh in India's biggest-ever IPO.

Asked about the kind of listing one can expect for the NSE IPO, Arun Kejriwal, Founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services, said, “The NSE has no promoter; this means the number of NSE shares available for trade after the share listing would be equal to the OFS size, which is 12,64,36,650 shares. So, the NSE shares may have limited upside or downside post-listing. However, the movement of NSE shares would depend heavily on various economic indicators, such as India's GDP and quarterly earnings. In the unlisted market, the NSE share price today is ₹1,950, which is around 10% above the upper price band of ₹1785. So, NSE IPO is expected to deliver around 10% listing gain to the possible shareholders at the time of listing.”

Disclaimer: This story is for educational and informational purposes only. The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, not Mint. We advise investors to check with certified financial experts before making any investment decisions.

Asit Manohar has nearly two decades of experience in the mainstream media. In this period, he has served esteemed media organisations like NDTV Profit, The Economic Times, and Zee Business. He has been working at LiveMint Digital since April 2021. During these two decades of journey in mainstream media, Asit has mainly covered external affairs, markets and personal finance. However, his earliest beats include railways, SME, MSME, and politics (Congress beat). Some of his features on political, economic, and foreign policy are documented in the parliamentary records. <br><br> While pursuing his MA (Mass Communication, Session 2004-06), Asit began his media career as a stringer at All India Radio in Varanasi. At AIR Varanasi, Asit worked with the Gyanvani, Yuvvani and Vividh Bharti teams. After working for nearly one year at AIR Varanasi, he shifted to print journalism and started working as a stringer for the HT Media Ltd, Varanasi. At HT Media Ltd in Varanasi, he covered the BHU beat. <br><br> Asit has also worked with some brokerage houses. He has worked with Religare Broking and India Infoline, where he assisted the research team in developing and executing trade strategies for intraday cash, F&O, and commodities. <br><br> Asit is a Gold Medalist in MA (Mass Communication) from BHU, Varanasi. He did his BSc. (Hons) in Mathematics from Magadh University, Bodh Gaya. Asit was a National Talent Scholarship holder during his senior secondary studies (1988-91).

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