New Delhi, May 18 -- The market regulator granted a rare concession in troubled times: the freedom to reduce a public offering by half without re-filing paperwork. A month later, there are few takers for the offer.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) introduced the rule in April, allowing companies to cut the fresh issue component of an initial public offering (IPO) by up to 50%, earlier there was a 20% limit, without resubmitting their Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), which generally takes about 75 days.

As reported on 15 April, Sebi introduced the rule change to assist capital mobilisation during market volatility linked to the West Asia war.

The facility, which followed a regulatory extension for the validity of IP...