How has been the overall capital raising by Indian companies in the month of March 2021?

Even as most of us are focused on IPOs, there has been a lot of capital raised in Indian markets through other equity sources. Here are some highlights.

· Even as March 2021 was a sort of a blockbuster month for IPOs, other equity transactions like QIP placements and follow-on offerings have not lagged too much.

· Most of the Indian companies that can raise capital are surely making a dash to raise capital before year-end fearing rising cases could again cloud the market.

· Just to give you a picture, around 5 companies in India have raised a sum of over Rs.9,300 crore via qualified institutional placements or QIPs in the month.

· In addition, existing investors and promoters divested equity holdings worth Rs.14,200 crore through the route of block deals and OFS.

· Some key transactions included BPCL treasury shares worth Rs.5,525 crore and the sale of 4.3% in SBI Life by Carlyle for a sum of Rs.3944 crore.

· Godrej Properties, which has been under pressure, did a QIP fund raising worth Rs.3750 crore during the month of March 2021.

· We could see more fund raising from small and mid-cap companies which are desperate for funds to retire debt. Of course, that will need better market sentiments.