Shares of BLS Polymers closed 81% above their initial public offering price on their first day of trading on Tuesday, Nov. 3, after the small maker of cable and pipeline compounds drew bids for 241 times the stock on offer. The stock listed at INR 248 on the National Stock Exchange of India, a 65.33% premium to the INR 150 issue price, and ended the session at INR 272, Business Today reported.

SFC Environmental Technologies, a wastewater treatment engineer that listed the same morning, opened on the NSE with a smaller premium of 7.61% at INR 355.10 against its INR 330 issue price. It then climbed to INR 426.10, its upper price limit for the day and 29.12% above the offer price, Business Today reported.

The two debuts show how far demand in India's primary market still runs ahead of supply for small, fresh-capital issues, even as foreign funds have been net sellers of Indian equities this year. They also show the gap between deals that raise money for the company and those that mainly pay out existing shareholders. For investors in Asia tracking India's listing pipeline, which has included the Jio Platforms debut, the week offers a read on appetite further down the size scale.

BLS Polymers draws 241 times demand

BLS Polymers raised INR 255 crore (INR 2.55 billion) entirely through new shares, selling 1.7 crore equity shares with no offer for sale, according to Business Today. The book ran from Oct. 27 to 29.

Bids topped INR 43,000 crore from about 61.6 lakh applications, Business Today reported. The non-institutional portion was covered nearly 560 times, qualified institutional buyers 200.25 times and retail investors 128 times. The company had raised INR 76.5 crore from seven anchor investors before the book opened.

Trading was heavy. On the NSE, 793.15 lakh shares changed hands for INR 2,104.77 crore on listing day, giving the company a market value of INR 1,667.42 crore, Business Today said. On BSE the stock opened at INR 244.10, a 62.73% premium.

The New Delhi-based company makes specialised polymer compounds used in wires, cables and underground pipelines, selling to the power, telecommunications, railways, water and oil and gas industries, according to Business Today. The proceeds are earmarked for expanding a manufacturing facility, working capital and general corporate purposes. Unistone Capital was the sole book-running lead manager.

SFC Environmental's offer was mostly a share sale

SFC Environmental's deal was larger and structured differently. Of the roughly INR 668 crore raised, only INR 150 crore came from new shares, Business Today reported; the rest was an offer for sale of about 1.56 crore shares by the promoters and other existing holders. The price valued the company at INR 3,232.5 crore at the top of the range.

Demand was solid but far thinner than for BLS Polymers. The issue was subscribed 9.47 times, PTI reported, with qualified institutional buyers bidding 18.81 times their allotment, non-institutional investors 12.81 times and retail investors 2.71 times. The company had raised INR 200 crore from anchor investors before the book opened.

On BSE the stock opened at INR 354.05, a 7.29% premium. On the NSE, 210.79 lakh shares traded for INR 819.64 crore and the company's market value reached INR 4,173.9 crore, Business Today said.

The Navi Mumbai-based company, incorporated in 2005, designs and installs systems for treating and recycling wastewater and for handling solid waste, Business Today reported. PTI said its proprietary technology includes a sewage and effluent treatment process called C-Tech. It reported a profit of INR 1.5 crore on revenue of INR 133.9 crore in the quarter ended June 2026, compared with a loss of INR 1.3 crore on revenue of INR 67.8 crore a year earlier, Business Today said. Its order book stood at INR 641 crore in wastewater treatment, INR 561 crore in recycling and reuse and INR 454.5 crore in solid waste treatment as of August.

The fresh money is earmarked for INR 42.2 crore of debt repayment and INR 74.9 crore of working capital. IIFL Capital Services, JM Financial and Nuvama Wealth Management ran the books.

A strong day for the market

The broader market gave the debuts some support. The Sensex rose 1,225.07 points, or 1.62%, to close at 76,917.85, and the Nifty 50 gained 1.58% to 23,810.85, a fourth straight day of gains, Business Today reported.

The week began with the debut of EAAA India Alternatives, an offer made up entirely of existing shares, on Nov. 2.