An inauspicious fortnight on the Hindu calendar has slowed new offers in India's equity capital markets—among the busiest globally for primary listings—as issuers stare at a deepening secondary market selloff.
Pitru Paksha, dedicated to remembering deceased ancestors, began on 26 September and will conclude on 10 October. September got off to a hectic start and closed with the landmark listing of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd on 25 September. October has already started on a quieter note.
After initial public offerings of a record ₹94,205 crore in the first half of FY27, no new mainboard launches are scheduled this week. Only one IPO, a ₹35 crore share sale by R K Fashion Accessories Ltd during 5-7 October, which will list on the NSE marketplace for small and medium enterprises.
“Yes, there is a degree of seasonality we are seeing during this Pitru Paksha,” the chief executive officer of a domestic merchant bank said, asking not to be identified. “There is a meaningful pipeline of issuers at different stages of readiness, and we expect several companies to evaluate the post-Pitru Paksha window.”
For Mumbai's dealmakers, who spent the first nine months of 2026 managing a relentless queue of IPOs, this brief lull is quite unlike the previous two years, when the so-called inauspicious window did not deter companies from tapping the market.