Led by public offers of auto major Maruti and some public sector banks, primary markets staged a strong recovery in 2003-04 with funds inflow witnessing almost six times growth to Rs 23,271 crore (Rs 232.71 billion), the pre-Budget Economic Survey said on Wednesday.

The survey for 2003-04, tabled in Parliament, said total inflows into the primary market shot up to Rs 23,271 crore from Rs 4,070 crore (Rs 40.7 billion) in 2002-03 reflecting the buoyancy of prices".

Economic Survey 2003-2004: Complete Coverage

It said the total number of public issues during 2003-04 more than doubled to 57 from 26 in 2002-03.

The number of initial public offerings during last fiscal stood at 14 against six in the previous year.

The Survey pointed that in 2003-04, the primary markets saw eight major public offerings each with a size of over Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) and strong annualised returns.

Maruti Udyog's Rs 903.04 crore (Rs 9.03 billion) public issue, which hit the market on June 19 in 2003 was the biggest public offering in 2003-04, followed by Patni Computers (Rs 430.65 cr), Petronet LNG (Rs 391.47 cr) and Biocon (Rs 315 cr).