India, Oct. 27 -- A study published in the RBI Bulletin (October 2025) revealed how small investors gained and lost in the SME IPOs roulette. While the retail buyers reaped huge listing gains, i.e., the difference between the offer prices and listing ones, they were left out in the cold if they held onto the shares. These are dangerous trends since the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) shot up in the past two years (2023-24 and 2024-25). On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) SME platforms, nearly 450 IPOs were listed in the two years.

In August 2024, the stock market regulator, SEBI, issued a press release to warn the small investors "to be careful and watchfu...