India Inc mops up a record Rs 24,993 cr

India Inc created a new record by mobilising Rs 24,993 crore (Rs 249.93 billion) in FY06-07, which is higher by as much as 5 per cent compared with the previous year's Rs 23,676 crore (Rs 236.76 billion). The year also saw the demise of small issues, planning to mobilise less than Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million).

The year marked the end of regional stock exchanges. A total of 85 issues opted to list on BSE/NSE. The 5 companies that opted for the regional exchanges were follow-on public offers that were already listed on those regional exchanges, said Prithvi Haldea of Prime Database, a firm which tracks the primary market for share issuances.

The mobilisation in 2006-07 could have been higher but for the two secondary market crashes which forced temporary shelving of IPOs and the lack of divestments in public sector undertakings. One of the remarkable features of the year was that there was no public issue of debt unlike last year, said Haldea.

The follow-on public offerings by listed companies witnessed a huge decline this year, accounting for only 5 per cent of the total capital raised. Compared with 26 companies with a total offer of Rs 12,867 crore (Rs 128.67 billion) last year, the year 2006-07 witnessed only 9 companies raising a meagre Rs 1,287 crore (Rs 12.87 billion).