Govt's Divestment Plan To Push Fundraising Activities In FY26

New Delhi: The government's divestment plan is likely to provide a push to fundraising in FY26 as the recent market correction has slowed down deal-making activity, Emkay Global Financial Services said on Thursday.

Addressing a webinar on the state of affairs of the Indian investment banking industry, Yatin Singh, CEO of investment banking at Emkay Global Financial Services, said the public sector is turning out to be material client for investment banks in India with the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) setting a divestment target of Rs47,000 crore for FY26. "This is a huge opportunity for investment banks in FY26 and beyond," he said.

Over the past three years, the initial public offers (IPOs) of LIC, IREDA, and the offer for sale (OFS) of ONGC, IRCTC, HAL, Coal India, RVNL, NHPC, Hudco, Ircon, and Cochin Shipyard have kept the deal street buzzing within the PSU segment. Looking ahead, the upcoming IPOs of Bharat Coking Coal, Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd (MNGL), along with the QIP/OFS of IREDA, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Veedol, Central Bank, UCO Bank, IOB, Bank of Maharashtra, and Punjab & Sind Bank are expected to present significant opportunities for the investment banking industry in FY26 and beyond, Singh added. The steep correction in the equity market has started showing its impact on fundraising activities. This slowdown in IPO activity is reflected in the numbers, as only five companies went public in January and four in February, compared to 15 public issues in January-February 2024. In addition, fundraising through qualified institutional placements (QIPs) was limited to only 7 in January-March 2025 as compared to 18 in the year-ago period. This shift followed a remarkable 2024, in which 92 maiden public issues collectively raised over Rs1.6 lakh crore, along with companies raised over Rs1.36 lakh crore through 91 QIPs.