The IPO cycle is the process a company goes through to sell shares to the public for the first time, starting with a filing to SEBI and ending with the stock trading on an exchange. SME IPOs usually list in 3 to 4 months, mainboard IPOs take 6 to 12 months, and the actual DRHP preparation before filing can itself take 3 to 6 months. Once bidding closes, listing happens within 3 working days under the current SEBI rule.

What Is the IPO Cycle?
How the IPO Cycle Works
The IPO Refund Process
How to Withdraw an IPO Application Before Allotment
A Worked Example
Key Features of the IPO Cycle
Advantages
Risks and Limitations
Tips for Beginners
IPO Cycle vs Direct Listing
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Who Should Apply for IPOs?
FAQs

Say a company announces IPO plans in January, but the issue doesn’t open until June. New investors often read this as a delay. It isn’t. Getting a company ready to sell shares to the public takes real time, audits, SEBI paperwork, pricing calls, and knowing how that time breaks down helps you plan when to expect an IPO to actually open, instead of guessing from news headlines.

What Is the IPO Cycle?

The IPO cycle covers every step a private company takes to list on the stock exchange, from its first regulatory filing to the day its shares start trading. SEBI requires this disclosure process so a company can’t raise public money without first proving its financials and risks are laid out honestly.

Before a company even files anything, getting the paperwork ready, audited financials, legal opinions, and business disclosures takes 3 to 6 months on its own. After filing, an SME IPO can wrap up in another 3 to 4 months. A mainboard IPO, the kind listing on the main NSE or BSE board rather than the SME platform, usually takes 6 to 12 months after filing. Add both stages together, and a mainboard IPO can easily run close to a year or more from start to finish. You can browse open and upcoming issues on Alice Blue’s IPO page to see where current companies stand in this timeline, and check how to open a demat account if you want to apply once one opens.

How the IPO Cycle Works

The board approves going public and hires merchant bankers to run the process.
The company files a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI, a document listing its financials, risks, and plans for the money raised.
SEBI reviews the DRHP, usually taking 20 to 30 working days to respond with queries. If changes are needed, the company refiles, and the clock resets.
Once cleared, SEBI’s approval stays valid for 12 months in most cases, though SEBI granted a one-time six-month extension in April 2026 for approvals set to expire between April and September that year, due to weak market conditions. Companies use this window to time their launch.
Roadshows happen next, where the company pitches to big institutional investors and sets a price band for everyone else.
The issue opens for bidding, usually for 3 working days.
Allotment happens on T+1, the day after bidding closes, often decided by a computer-run lottery if demand is high.
Refunds and share credits follow on T+2.
The stock starts trading on T+3.

Older guides sometimes mention a T+6 listing timeline. That was correct before December 2023; SEBI has since tightened it to T+3, so if you’re reading anything that says six days, it’s out of date.

The IPO Refund Process

If you don’t get the full allotment, your money comes back through ASBA, Applications Supported by Blocked Amount. ASBA never debits your account when you apply; it only holds the amount until allotment is decided.

Full allotment means only the amount for your allotted shares gets debited. Partial allotment means the leftover blocked amount is released on T+1, right after allotment is finalised. Zero allotment means the entire amount comes back by T+2. If you cancel your bid before the issue closes, funds are released once the registrar processes your request.

There’s no separate refund form to fill out. Your bank unblocks the money automatically once allotment is finalised.

How to Withdraw an IPO Application Before Allotment

You can pull out of an IPO you’ve applied for, but the window is short.

Open the app or portal you used to apply, broker, net banking, or the UPI app tied to your bid.
Find your active bid under the order book or IPO applications section.
Select cancel and confirm.
If you applied through UPI, cancel the mandate separately; cancelling just the bid doesn’t always release the UPI hold.
Funds are usually unblocked within a working day of the cancellation going through.

This only works before the issue closes. Once bidding ends, there’s no walking back. If shares get allotted to you, you’re on the hook to pay.

A Worked Example

Take a hypothetical mainboard IPO, “Bharat Tech Ltd,” priced at ₹100 to ₹110 a share with a lot size of 100 shares. Bidding at the cut-off price blocks ₹11,000 in your account through ASBA.

The issue opens Monday and closes Wednesday. If you change your mind on Tuesday, you withdraw and get the ₹11,000 back within a day. If you stay in and the retail category gets subscribed five times over, you might land only 20 shares, ₹2,200 worth, with the other ₹8,800 released on T+1. Zero allotment means the full ₹11,000 comes back by T+2. If you do get shares, they land in your demat account on T+2, and the stock lists on T+3.

Key Features of the IPO Cycle

SEBI oversees every stage, from the DRHP to the listing day itself. The subscription window is fixed at 3 working days for everyone, retail, HNI, and institutional. Your money sits blocked through ASBA, not spent, until allotment is decided. Listing now happens on T+3, down from the T+6 rule that applied before December 2023. And when demand outstrips supply in the retail category, allotment is usually settled by a computer lottery rather than by who applied first.

Advantages

Knowing the real timeline stops you from mistaking a normal wait for a problem. A mainboard IPO taking nine months after filing, on top of months of pre-filing prep, is expected, not a red flag. Because ASBA only blocks funds instead of spending them, you keep some control over your money right up to allotment. And T+3 listing means you find out your result faster than investors did a few years back, when the wait could stretch to six working days.

Risks and Limitations

Miss the withdrawal window, and you’re locked into your bid even if bad news breaks about the company just before listing. Heavy oversubscription can tie up ₹10,000 or more of your money for several days with nothing to show for it at the end. And plenty of first-timers chase Grey Market Premium numbers instead of reading the prospectus, GMP isn’t regulated by SEBI, and can swing sharply before listing day.

Tips for Beginners

Read the risk factors section of the prospectus, not just the marketing summary. Apply through your own broker account rather than someone else’s login. Watch subscription numbers on the closing day, since retail demand tends to spike in the final hours. Treat GMP as a rough mood indicator, not a promise. And decide on withdrawal a few hours before closing rather than at the last minute, since cancellation portals slow down under heavy traffic.

IPO Cycle vs Direct Listing

Parameter	IPO Cycle	Direct Listing
Regulatory filing	Mandatory DRHP with SEBI	Simplified filing is rare in India
Time to list (after filing)	SME: 3-4 months; Mainboard: 6-12 months	Faster, but rarely used here
Fresh capital raised	Usually yes	Often no
Who can bid	Retail, HNI, institutional	Most existing shareholders are selling
Price discovery	Fixed price band set upfront	The market decides on the listing day

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Applying on the last day is risky since bank servers and broker apps slow down near closing hours; apply a day early instead. Ignoring anchor investor lock-in is another miss; anchor investors are locked in for 30 to 90 days after allotment, and heavy selling once that lock-in ends can pressure the stock price, so it’s worth watching even as a retail holder. Not checking the allotment status means missing out on knowing whether you actually hold the stock on listing day. Assuming refunds land the same day is wrong; unblocking takes until T+1 or T+2. And trying to withdraw after the issue closes simply won’t work; the window shuts the moment bidding ends.

Conclusion

An IPO’s full journey, from DRHP prep to listing day, usually runs 6 to 12 months for mainboard companies and 3 to 4 months for SME issues after filing, with the visible bidding window lasting just 3 working days. Refunds and share credits follow a T+1/T+2 pattern, and listing lands on T+3. The one habit worth building: read the prospectus before you bid, and remember that once the issue closes, there’s no changing your mind.