Shares of Indian edtech firm PhysicsWallah surged 45% as it made its debut on the National Stock Exchange, closing at INR 158 (USD 1.90) after starting the day at INR 109 (USD 1.20). That gave the platform a market value of c. INR 425 bn (USD 5.1 bn) at the close of trading.

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Appetite wasn’t particularly wild in the subscription period, with investors placing orders for about 1.8x more shares than were on offer — not a shockingly high oversubscription rate. Had the investment bankers left lots of upside on the table during the marketing period by pricing the offering on the lower side, demand would have been significantly higher. That suggests the first-day pop could be retail investors piling into a well-known name.

Appetite by the numbers: Bankers initially sought a USD 3.1 bn valuation for PhysicsWallah. Qualified institutional buyers were interested, but total bids came in at just USD 414 mn excluding shares allocated to anchor investors. Those anchor investors included Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, ICICI Prudential, and 35 domestic mutual funds, who were allocated INR 1.5 bn (USD 19 mn) in the anchor round.

What’s next? The loss-making company plans to deploy proceeds from the IPO to expand offline centers, cover lease payments, invest in subsidiaries, and look at possible acquisitions as it scales its hybrid model amid intense scrutiny of the sustainability of edtech businesses.

By the numbers: The IPO comprised a fresh issue of INR 3.1 bn (USD 37 mn) and an offer for sale of INR 380 mn (USD 5 mn), with the employee quota subscribed 3.5x and founders holding 80.7% pre-offer equity, according to Economic Times.

ADVISORS- The book-running lead managers for the transaction were Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan India, Goldman Sachs India, and Axis Capital. MUFG Intime India was the registrar. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas provided counsel on matters related to Indian law.

Concerns about aftermarket performance

India’s IPO boom hasn’t translated into strong investor returns, with the key IPO index trailing the benchmark Nifty 50, Bloomberg reports. Nearly 40% of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) IPO Index’s 108 companies are trading below their issue price and one-third have fallen more than 25%, even as IPO fundraising is on track to match last year’s record INR 1.75 tn (USD 21 bn).

Split market: Bloomberg’s analysis shows that while the IPO gauge posted strong gains in 2019 and 2021, it fell more than 30% in 2022 and has failed to keep up pace with the Nifty 50 in 2025. The decline reflects weak performance among many new-listed firms, even as a few large offerings have seen strong debuts. Electric scooter manufacturer Athar Energy and solar-panel manufacturer Waaree Energies have more than doubled since listing, but overall investor sentiment remains cautious amid volatile secondary market conditions and tighter liquidity.

Chief economic advisor raises eyebrow

CEA flags IPOs as early investors exit: India’s equity markets are expanding, but initial public offerings are increasingly serving as exit routes for early investors rather than channels for raising long-term capital The Hindu reports, citing Anantha Nageswaran, the chief economic advisor to the Modi government. Using IPOs as exits undermines the spirit of capital markets, Nageswaran said, urging long-term investment.

AND- “Wrong milestones” risk misallocating savings: Nageswaran cautioned that India cannot depend solely on bank credit for long-horizon financing. He advised against celebrating metrics such as market-cap ratios or high derivative volumes, arguing they do not signal financial sophistication, and instead risk diverting domestic savings from more productive investments.

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