IPO Timeline Explained: From Bidding to Listing (T+3)

Since December 2023, every public issue in India has had to follow SEBI's T+3 timeline: shares must be listed and available for trading within three working days of the day bidding closes. This guide walks through what happens on each day, what the dates on an IPO page mean, and what to check if something runs late.

Before bidding opens

• RHP filed. The Red Herring Prospectus is filed with the Registrar of Companies and published. It lists the planned timetable.
• Price band announced. The company announces its price band at least two working days before the issue opens. See price band and lot size.
• Anchor bidding. For most mainboard issues, anchor investors bid on the working day before the public issue opens. The anchor allocation is announced that evening. Anchors are explained in investor categories.

The bidding period

A book-built issue must stay open for at least three working days and no more than ten. If the price band is revised, the bidding period is extended. During bidding:

• Exchanges publish category-wise demand through the day; these figures become the subscription multiples you see reported.
• Individual investors can modify or cancel bids until the issue closes.
• On the closing day, brokers usually stop accepting new bids during the afternoon, and UPI mandates must be approved before the exchange's cut-off. Leaving an application to the last hour is the most common reason for a missed IPO.

After bidding: T to T+3

The exact dates for each issue are in its RHP and on our IPO pages, which show them as a step-by-step timeline. Dates after the closing day are the published schedule; in rare cases the registrar or exchange revises them.

A worked example

Suppose an issue opens on a Wednesday and closes on the following Friday (T). Saturday and Sunday are skipped, so:

• T+1 is Monday — basis of allotment;
• T+2 is Tuesday — refunds/unblocking and demat credit;
• T+3 is Wednesday — listing.

If a trading holiday falls in between, every later step moves by a day.

Why T+3 matters to applicants

• Money is tied up for less time. Before T+3, applicants in oversubscribed issues often waited a week or more for blocked funds to be released.
• Less time for the grey market. The window between closing and listing — when grey market trades in allotments happen — is shorter.
• Clear expectations. Because the timeline is fixed by regulation, a delay is an exception worth following up.

If something is late

• Allotment status not visible on T+1 night: check again the next morning, and check both the registrar and exchange status pages; see how to check allotment status.
• Funds still blocked after T+2: follow the steps in IPO refunds and unblocking.
• Shares not in demat by listing morning: contact your depository participant (broker) first, then the registrar.

You can see current issues moving through this timeline on the IPO calendar.