DRHP on WebNotes

Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) in India

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) is the preliminary offer document that an issuer files with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the concerned stock exchange(s), and the SEBI-designated public repository before a book-built Initial Public Offering (IPO) or Follow-on Public Offer. The DRHP precedes the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) in the IPO lifecycle and serves as the document on which SEBI conducts its regulatory review. Unlike the RHP, the DRHP does not contain the price band, the lot size, the subscription opening and closing dates, or the final allotment methodology; these fields are left blank or indicated as “to be determined” pending the issuer’s decision after SEBI’s observations have been incorporated. The DRHP is a public document; SEBI posts it on its primary issues portal on the date of filing, allowing any member of the public, media organisation, analyst, or prospective investor to read and comment on it during the thirty-day observation window.

Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) in India

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) is the legally binding offer document that an issuer files with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the stock exchanges, and the Registrar of Companies before opening an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to public subscription. It derives its name from the mandatory disclaimer, printed in red ink on the front page of early-twentieth-century American prospectuses, warning readers that the document was not yet final. In India the term has been formalised under the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, 2018, which defines the RHP as a prospectus filed under section 32 of the Companies Act, 2013, that does not contain the final offer price or final number of shares offered but contains all other material disclosures. The final price, and in some structures the exact number of equity shares, are inserted in a supplementary document called the Prospectus or Pricing Supplement filed after the book building process concludes and before allotment.

SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 (commonly abbreviated ICDR Regulations or ICDR 2018) are the principal substantive regulations governing public issuances of equity and certain other securities by Indian companies. Notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India on 11 September 2018 under SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2018/31, the regulations replaced the earlier SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, 2009 and came into force on their date of notification.

The regulations apply to every initial public offering (IPO), follow-on public offering (FPO), rights issue, bonus issue, preferential allotment, and qualified institutions placement (QIP) by an Indian listed or to-be-listed company. They establish the eligibility conditions for accessing the public capital markets, prescribe the content and review process for offer documents, specify pricing methodologies, set out allotment norms, and impose post-listing obligations in respect of the funds raised.