IPOs in 1980s and 1990s vs today and what it means for you
India is currently going through an IPO boom. According to the latest Ernst & Young (EY) Global IPO report, the year 2021 was India’s strongest IPO year in terms of proceeds in the recent 20 years. As per the report, IPO activity in India climbed 156 percent year over year to 110 deals in 2021 (from 43 in 2020) and 314 percent in terms of proceeds to $16.94 billion (from $4.09 billion in 2020). All of this is good news for investors. However, things weren’t always so rosy in India. The IPO scenario in the 1980s and 1990s was vastly different from what we know and see today. Background of IPOs Hundreds of enterprises flooded the market with IPOs in the 1980s, with the majority of them being low-quality issues. The worst period was 1992-1996, when there were an incredible 3,911 equity IPOs. These were rife with frauds and scams since SEBI had only just been set up and did not have much control over the market. There were no rules and regulations or checks and balances which