On 4 July 2025, the last bidding day of Crizac's ₹860 crore IPO, NSE data showed its QIB portion subscribed 134.35 times. Retail stood at 10.24 times. Qualified institutional buyers in IPO subscription tables are SEBI-recognised institutions bidding for a reserved slice of the issue. Here is who they are, what they get, and how to read their bids without over-reading them.
QIB Meaning in IPO: Who Qualifies Under SEBI Rules
A Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB) is an institution SEBI treats as a sophisticated investor. The list sits in Regulation 2(1)(ss) of the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 (ICDR Regulations). The main categories are:
• Mutual funds, alternative investment funds and venture capital funds registered with SEBI
• Foreign portfolio investors, other than individuals, corporate bodies and family offices
• Scheduled commercial banks and public and development financial institutions
• Insurance companies registered with the insurance regulator, IRDAI
• Provident funds and registered pension funds with a corpus of at least ₹25 crore
• Systemically important non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)
Notice who is missing: individuals. No bid makes you a QIB. Individuals bidding up to ₹2 lakh are retail investors. Everyone else is a non-institutional investor (NII).
How the QIB Portion Works in an IPO
A book-built IPO discovers its price from bids within a price band. Under the SEBI rules for IPO investments, the split applies to the net offer, the shares left after special reservations. For a ₹1,000 crore issue under the profitability route (Regulation 6(1)), it looks like this:
Slice | Rule | Amount |
QIB portion | Up to 50% of the net offer | Up to ₹500 crore |
Anchor investors | Up to 60% of the QIB portion | Up to ₹300 crore |
Mutual fund reservation | 5% of the QIB portion left after anchors | ₹10 crore |
NII portion | At least 15% | At least ₹150 crore |
Retail portion | At least 35% | At least ₹350 crore |
Outside the anchor book, QIB shares are allotted in proportion to bid size.
Anchor Investors: The QIBs Who Bid First
Anchors are QIBs allotted shares one working day before the issue opens. Each applies for at least ₹10 crore in a mainboard IPO, and their shares carry a 30-day and 90-day IPO lock-in period.
Since 30 November 2025, 40% of the anchor portion is reserved for domestic mutual funds (33.33%) and life insurers and pension funds (6.67%). That is 40% of the anchor book, not a bigger anchor book: ₹120 crore of the ₹300 crore above. The anchor investors in IPO guide covers the rest.
QIB vs NII vs Retail: The Rules Side by Side
Size is only one difference. The bidding rules also change what each subscription number means.
Rule | QIB | NII | Retail |
Who | Institutions under Regulation 2(1)(ss) | Others, including individuals above ₹2 lakh | Individuals up to ₹2 lakh |
Bid at cut-off (accept the final price) | No | No | Yes |
Withdraw or lower a bid | No, at any stage | No, at any stage | Yes, until the issue closes |
Allotment | Proportionate (anchors aside) | Minimum lot first, subject to availability | Minimum lot first, subject to availability |
The withdrawal row matters most. A QIB bid is a firm commitment at a stated price.
Why Qualified Institutional Buyers in IPOs Matter, and Where the Signal Breaks Down
NSE and BSE publish category-wise bids during the issue. The QIB figure matters because those institutions must name a price and cannot pull or trim bids.
But it has limits:
• It measures demand at the issue price, not where shares will trade after listing.
• Non-anchor QIBs face no lock-in, so they can sell from listing day.
• It says nothing about your allotment odds, which depend on retail demand.
• SEBI does not recommend any issue or guarantee an investment.
Also check the red herring prospectus (RHP) cover page. A company that misses the profitability norms can still list through the QIB route under Regulation 6(2). At least 75% of the net offer goes to QIBs, retail is capped at 10%, and money is refunded if the QIB minimum fails.
In a ₹1,000 crore issue, that is at least ₹750 crore for QIBs and at most ₹100 crore for retail. That is not a red flag alone, but read the IPO prospectus risk factors closely.
Also Read: If you want to understand the considerations after an IPO lists, explore our Post IPO Trading Guide for more information.
Conclusion
Before you apply, run three checks. See whether the RHP cover page cites Regulation 6(1) or 6(2). Read the QIB multiple as firm demand at the issue price, not a forecast. Then form your own view, using a method for how to analyse an IPO.
If it still fits, you can apply for an IPO in the Indiabulls Securities app through a UPI mandate. Later, track your IPO allotment status in the same dashboard. Let the institutions inform your decision, not make it.
Also Read: Once the IPO application process is complete, learn How to Check IPO Allotment Status Online to understand how to check your application outcome.