India's market regulator has cleared initial public offerings by Mahanadi Coalfields, the largest coal-producing unit of state-run Coal India, and by payments company Razorpay, adding two of the most closely watched names to a pipeline that Prime Database now puts at about 4.3 trillion rupees.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India approved the Mahanadi Coalfields offering, Reuters reported on Thursday, Nov. 5. Razorpay secured its own approval for an issue of 50 billion to 60 billion rupees, people familiar with the matter told the Press Trust of India on Wednesday. For investors in Hong Kong and Singapore, the pair offers two very different bets on India: a state-owned commodity producer selling down a stake, and a venture-backed fintech whose backers include Singapore's GIC.

Mahanadi Coalfields: a 10% sale by Coal India

Coal India plans to sell up to 661.8 million shares of Mahanadi Coalfields, or 10% of the unit, according to the draft prospectus filed in September. The issue is entirely an offer for sale, so the subsidiary will receive none of the money; all proceeds go to the parent, the Free Press Journal reported when the draft was filed.

Bloomberg reported on Nov. 2 that Coal India was preparing to launch the offering as early as this month, and that it could raise as much as $1 billion and value the unit at up to $10 billion, according to Reuters. That would put it among India's biggest issues of the year.

The unit mines mainly in the eastern state of Odisha. It produced 28.4% of Coal India's coal in the fiscal year ended March 2026, Reuters said. In the quarter to June, revenue from operations rose to 80.34 billion rupees from 75.48 billion rupees a year earlier, while net profit slipped to 23.99 billion rupees from 24.48 billion rupees, the Free Press Journal reported, citing the draft.

SBI Capital Markets, Axis Capital, BOB Capital Markets, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities and IIFL Capital Services are the book-running lead managers. Coal India said in March it could sell up to 25% of both Mahanadi Coalfields and South Eastern Coalfields through IPOs or other routes. Its chairman, B. Sairam, said in September that both listings would be completed within the current fiscal year, subject to market conditions and government direction.

One weak spot for investors: the average premium the two units earn on coal sold through e-auctions has fallen by as much as two-thirds over the past two fiscal years, Business Standard reported on Thursday.

Razorpay targets a $5 billion valuation

Razorpay, founded in 2014 by Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, is targeting a valuation of about $5 billion, PTI reported. The company filed its draft papers in June through SEBI's confidential route, which lets issuers have their documents reviewed without immediately publishing sensitive business details.

The Bengaluru company has grown from payment acceptance into business banking, payouts, payroll and lending. Its backers include Peak XV Partners, Singapore's GIC, Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital and TCV, according to PTI.

Its approval comes while rival PhonePe's listing remains on hold. PhonePe paused its IPO in March, citing tensions in West Asia and volatile markets, after planning to raise more than $1 billion at a valuation of $9 billion to $10.5 billion, PTI said.

Record year sets a high bar

The approvals follow the strongest year on record for Indian listings. Mainboard IPOs raised 2.12 trillion rupees across 129 issues in Samvat 2082, the Hindu calendar year that ran from Oct. 21, 2025, with data available through Nov. 4, 2026, according to Prime Database figures cited by Business Standard. That was more than in any comparable 12-month period.

Two deals did much of the work. The 302.13 billion rupee offering by Jio Platforms became India's largest IPO and the National Stock Exchange of India's 225.62 billion rupee issue became the second largest; together they accounted for more than 30% of the year's total. Capital Times covered Jio Platforms' debut and the exchange operator's first results as a listed company.

Most of the money went to selling shareholders rather than companies: offers for sale made up 1.12 trillion rupees of the total, against 999.17 billion rupees of fresh capital. The average listing-day return was 14.29%, and 89 of the 129 issues closed their first day at or above the offer price, while 40 closed below it.

The queue behind them is long. As of Oct. 30, 116 companies held valid SEBI approvals for issues estimated at 1.998 trillion rupees, and another 122 had filed documents and were waiting for a decision, Prime Database data showed. Abhinav Tiwari, a senior research analyst at Bonanza, said aggressive pricing had left some recent listings unable to hold their early gains, and that investors would lean toward profitability, governance and realistic valuations in the year ahead.

Neither Coal India nor Razorpay has announced a price band or subscription dates.