New Delhi: The government has amended rules governing minimum public shareholding for large companies by introducing a tiered structure that allows large firms to offer a smaller portion of shares to the public during IPO, and do staged increases to the 25 per cent level.
The amendment links minimum public offers to a company’s post‑issue capital at the IPO price. Companies with post‑issue capital above Rs 1,600 crore but up to Rs 4,000 crore must offer shares worth at least Rs 400 crore to the public.
Companies with post‑issue capital above Rs 4,000 crore but up to Rs 50,000 crore will be required to offer at least 10 per cent of their shares at listing and must raise public shareholding to 25 per cent within three years, in a manner laid out by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
For companies with post‑issue capital between 50,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore, a minimum public offer equivalent to Rs 1,000 crore in value and at least 8 per cent of each class of shares; those with capital between Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 5 lakh crore must offer shares worth at least Rs 6,250 crore and maintain a minimum public shareholding of 2.75 per cent at listing.
Companies with post‑issue capital above Rs 5 lakh crore have to offer shares worth at least Rs 15,000 crore and a minimum public shareholding of 1 per cent at the time of listing, the statement noted. Under the revised framework, companies with post‑issue capital of up to Rs 1,600 crore will be required to offer at least 25 per cent of each class of equity to the public similar to the current norm.
The changes were notified, through the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2026 was issued by the Ministry of Finance under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956. Irrespective of company size, firms are required to at least offer 2.5 per cent of each class of equity or convertible securities to the public, the statement said.
At the time of listing, if the public shareholding is below 15 per cent, the company must raise it to at least 15 per cent within five years and further to 25 per cent within ten years of listing.
