Best IPOs That Doubled Investors’ Money

Last updated on February 27, 2023

Following a lean phase in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic, India’s primary market is back on track with several successful offers. We analyzed IPOs since 2016 to find out the best performances and our list of best IPOs that doubled includes at least 25 offers where investors achieved not only highest listing gain but also did well in the subsequent 12 months.

#1 Happiest Minds IPO: Top of the Best IPOs that doubled

Ashok Soota-promoted Happiest Minds was among the most anticipated IPOs of 2020 simply because of Soota’s impeccable record in wealth creation. The company provides its solutions across the spectrum of various digital technologies such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Software-Defined Networking/Network Function Virtualization (SDN/NFV), Big Data and advanced analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, Business Process Management (BPM) and security. The IPO was subscribed within hours and ended with overall subscription of ~151X.

The IPO is among the ones with highest listing gains but the best part is that it rewarded investors even after listing. With 1-year gains of over 800%, it is going to remain on top in the list of best IPOs that doubled for a long period!

• Issue dates: 7 – 9 September 2020
• Issue size: INR 698.45 – 702.01 crore
• Price: INR 165 – 166 per share
• Listing date: 17 September 2020
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 370.95 per share (Up 123.46% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,495.9 per share (Up 801.14% from IPO price)

#2 Metropolis Healthcare IPO

One of the leading diagnostics companies in India, Metropolis Healthcare didn’t disappoint IPO investors. Although the IPO was fully-subscribed only on final day and listing gains were limited to single-digits, its business model caught fancy of institutional investors post listing.

• Issue dates: 3 – 5 April 2019
• Issue size: 13,685,095 shares (INR1,200.2 – 1,204.29 crore)
• Price: INR 877 – 880 per share
• Listing date: 15 April 2019
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 959.85 per share (up 9.07% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,337.55 per share (up 647.23% from IPO price)

#3 Route Mobile IPO

Route Mobile had a a strong demand among IPO investors and it had one of the highest listing gains. The service provider to over-the-top (OTT) players and mobile network operators (MNOs) further sweetened the deal with 12 month gains of 462%.

• Issue dates: 9 – 11 September 2020
• Issue size: INR 600 crore
• Price: INR 345 – 350 per share
• Listing date: 21 September 2020
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 650.3 per share (up 85.8% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,967.1 per share (Up 462.03% from IPO price)

#4 Avenue Supermarts (DMart) IPO

Radhakishan Damani-promoted Avenue Supermarts was the most anticipated IPO of 2017 and for good reasons. Apart from the legendary investor as the majority shareholder, the company had strong operating performance to showcase. The INR 1,870 crore IPO was subscribed a whopping 73.4 times and is among the ones with highest listing gains. Given the stock’s dream run and its strong fundamentals, it is going to remain on top in the list of best IPOs that doubled!

• Issue dates: 8 – 10 March 2017
• Issue size: 62,541,806 shares (INR1,870 crore)
• Price: INR 295 – 299 per share
• Listing date: 21 March 2017
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 641.6 per share (Up 114.6% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,339.60 per share (Up 348% from IPO price)

#5 Paras Defence IPO

• Issue dates: 21 – 23 September 2021
• Issue size: INR 169.05 – 170.78 crore
• Price: INR 295 – 299 per share
• Listing date: 1 October 2021
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 492.45 per share (up 181.4% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 697.8 per share (Up 298.74% from IPO price)

#6 Shankara Building Products IPO

Bengaluru-based Shankara Building Products launched its IPO on the heels of Avenue Supermarts offer. Nevertheless, Shankara Building Products floated a small offer of just INR 345 crore. According to DRHP, the company had done well in an unorganized market, so it wasn’t a surprise that the IPO did well and listed with decent gains but caught investors’ fancy in the subsequent quarters.

• Issue dates: 22 – 24 March 2017
• Issue size: 7,500,029 shares (INR 345 crore)
• Price: INR 440 – 460 per share
• Listing date: 5 April 2017
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 632.45 per share (Up 37.5% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,805.1 per share (Up 292.4% from IPO price)

Nevertheless, we had pointed out that it is not a scalable business model and the company eventually ran into trouble in the subsequent quarters. After a dream run, it is currently trading less than the IPO price!

Read Also: IPO Flashback 2019: Best and worst of the year

#7 MTAR Technologies IPO

• Issue dates: 3 – 5 March 2021
• Issue size: 10,372,419 shares (INR 595.37 – 596.41 crore)
• Price: INR 574 – 575 per share
• Listing date: 15 March 2021
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 1082.5 per share (up 88.26% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 2013.55 per share (Up 250.18% from IPO price)

#8 Nureca IPO

• Issue dates: 15 – 17 February 2021
• Issue size: INR 100 crore
• Price: INR 396 – 400 per share
• Listing date: 25 February 2021
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 645.75 per share (up 61.43% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,300.35 per share (Up 225.09% from IPO price)

#9 Laxmi Organic IPO

• Issue dates: 15 – 17 March 2021
• Issue size: INR 600 crore
• Price: INR 129 – 130 per share
• Listing date: 25 March 2021
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 164.45 per share (up 26.5% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 412.9 per share (Up 217.62% from IPO price)

#10 Rossari Biotech IPO

• Issue dates: 13 – 15 July 2020
• Issue size: INR 494.15 – 496.25 crore
• Price: INR 423 – 425 per share
• Listing date: 23 July 2020
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 752 per share (up 76.94% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,239.85 per share (Up 191.73% from IPO price)

#11 Quess Corp IPO

Ajit Isaac-backed staffing solutions firm Quess Corp was also a high flier and had already attracted Prem Watsa’s investment by the time its IPO launched. The company had posted impressive operating performance and its IPO was subscribed 81.5X! No wonder the offer is among the top IPOs that doubled.

• Issue dates: 29 June – 1 July 2016
• Issue size: 12,775,008 shares (INR 404.97 crore)
• Price: INR310 – 317 per share
• Listing date: 12 July 2016
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 503.1 per share (Up 58.7% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 918.75 per share (Up 189.8% from IPO price)

After topping out in 2018, the stock came under pressure amid deteriorating business. It now trades at a small premium to its IPO price. 

#12 Salasar Techno Engineering IPO

2017 was a hot year for IPOs and Salasar Techno Engineering is one of the few companies whose stock price doubled on debut day. In fact, it is the one with highest listing gains in this list. The steel fabrication and infrastructure solutions company had floated a small issue and it was immediately lapped up resulting in final subscription of nearly 272 times!

• Issue dates: 12 – 17 July 2017
• Issue size: 3,321,000 shares (INR 35.95 crore)
• Price: INR 108 per share
• Listing date: 25 July 2017
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 262.5 per share (Up 143.1% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 294.4 per share (Up 172.6% from IPO price)

Read Also: All-time largest IPOs in India at a glance

#13 RBL Bank IPO

RBL (formerly Ratnakar Bank) was a turnaround case as career banker Vishwavir Ahuja saw the potential in overhauling operations at the regional bank. With fresh funding from the likes of CDC Group, Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), the bank embarked on a new journey and this institutional presence was a major factor behind the success of IPO.

• Issue dates: 19 – 23 August 2016
• Issue size: 53,909,628 shares (INR 1,212.97 crore)
• Price: INR 224 – 225 per share
• Listing date: 31 August 2016
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 299.4 per share (Up 33.1% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 544.6 per share (Up 142% from IPO price)

#14 PSP Projects: From discounted listing to 100% returns

Ahmedabad-based infrastructure player PSP Projects also features among the best performing IPOs in one year timeframe. Being a company from construction and infra space, there was no novelty value in the IPO. Looking at the list of highest listing gains, one might be confused with this entry as the stock actually had a discounted listing but got rerated on the back of strong results.

• Issue dates: 16 – 19 May 2017
• Issue size: 10,080,000 shares (INR 211.68 crore)
• Price: INR 205 – 210 per share
• Listing date: 29 May 2017
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 199.5 per share (Down 5% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 505.1 per share (Up 140.5% from IPO price)

#15 Sheela Foam IPO

Next in our list of top IPOs that doubled investors’ wealth is Sleepwell mattress maker Sheela Foam which couldn’t even muster enough participation from retail category. The company’s IPO came towards the end of 2016 and was greatly hampered as a result of demonetization of INR1,000 notes. The company had earmarked 35% of the total IPO shares to be allotted to retail investors but it ended up getting less than half of the category subscription.

• Issue dates: 29 November – 1 December 2016
• Issue size: 6,986,301 shares (INR 510 crore)
• Price: INR 680 – 730 per share
• Listing date: 9 December 2016
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 1,032 per share (Up 41.4% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,752.3 per share (Up 140% from IPO price)

Nevertheless, the stock had a strong listing and it went even higher as dust settled over the next 12 months.

#16 Dilip Buildcon IPO

Here is another player from infrastructure space specializing in road-focused EPC contracts. When Dilip Buildcon launched the IPO, its balance sheet had a debt equity ratio of 2.2 and margins were in low single digits.

• Issue dates: 1 – 3 August 2016
• Issue size: 29,861,976 shares (INR 653.98 crore)
• Price: INR 214 – 219 per share
• Listing date: 11 August 2016
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 251.75 per share (Up 14.9% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 521.45 per share (Up 138.1% from IPO price)

#17 Powergrid InvIT IPO

• Issue dates: 29 April – 3 May 2021
• Issue size: INR 7,734.99 crore
• Price: INR 99 – 100 per share
• Listing date: 14 May 2021
• Listing Performance on NSE:INR 102.99 per share (up 2.99% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 236.3 per share (Up 136.30% from IPO price)

After listing with smart gains, the stock continued to move up and closed its first year with 136% gains from IPO levels!

#18 Barbeque Nation IPO

• Issue dates: 24 – 26 March 2021
• Issue size: INR 451.78 – 452.87 crore
• Price: INR 498 – 500 per share
• Listing date: 7 April 2021
• Listing Performance on NSE:INR 587.80 per share (up 17.56% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 1,181.05 per share (Up 136.21% from IPO price)

After listing with smart gains, the stock continued to move up and closed its first year with 136% gains from IPO levels!

#19 Mahanagar Gas IPO: PSU among the top IPOs that doubled

Mahanagar Gas – the city gas distribution venture between GAIL and BG Asia Pacific Holdings – has a monopoly in Mumbai and adjoining areas. All the shares in the IPO were offered Offer For Sale (OFS) at very attractive PE ratio of just 13.4. This was a no brainer and the IPO was subscribed 45 times.

• Issue dates: 21 – 23 June 2016
• Issue size: 24,694,500 shares (INR 1,039.64 crore)
• Price: INR 380 – 421 per share
• Listing date: 1 July 2016
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 520.3 per share (Up 23.6% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 992.4 per share (Up 135.7% from IPO price)

After listing with smart gains, the stock continued to move up and closed its first year with 135% gains from IPO levels!

#20 Apex Frozen Foods IPO

Apex Frozen Foods is an integrated producer and exporter of shelf stable quality aquaculture products. The company priced its IPO at a substantial discount to its bigger peer Avanti Feeds and as we noted in our analysis, it didn’t take long for the market to rerate the stock.

• Issue dates: 22 – 24 August 2017
• Issue size: 8,700,000 shares (INR 152.25 crore)
• Price: INR 171 – 175 per share
• Listing date: 4 September 2017
• Listing Performance on NSE: INR 212.1 per share (Up 21.2% from IPO price)
• Price after 1 year on NSE: INR 409.1 per share (Up 133.8% from IPO price)

#21 Endurance Technologies (One year return: 132.4%)

#22 Devyani International (One year return: 125.94%)

#23 Stove Kraft (One year return: 125.77%)

#24 Lodha Developers (One year return: 125.06%)

#25 IndiaMART InterMESH (One year return: 117.88%)

Since we are considering the performance on 12 month time frame, this list of best IPOs that doubled is likely to change as more stocks complete their 12 months of listing.