According to Prithvi Haldea of Prime, this does not suggest any kind of revival in the market, more so considering the fact that 74 per cent of the total amount has been mobilised through debt. The equity offerings have continued to be few, and even these have mainly been from the software sector. As per Prime, only 17 such equity issues hit the market raising a meagre Rs 874 crore. Although this compares favourably with Rs 332 crore raised through equity in the corresponding period of the previous year, the total amount is still too small to indicate a revival.

It is interesting to note that of this Rs 874 crore, the institutional/banking sector through three issues mobilised Rs 344 crore and the softwaresector with 11 issues collected Rs 424 crore. The rest was accounted for by one PSU offer of Rs 75 crore and one NBFC offer of Rs 2 crore. There has been a zero mobilisation by the manufacturing sector. Significantly, institutions/banks through debt and equity have, at Rs 2,870 crore, accounted for a high 84 per cent of the six-month period's total mobilisation, as per the Prime study. Despite being three years in the limbo and despite the sustained secondary market boom, why has the primary market not taken off? There seem to be, according to Haldea, several areas relating to issuers, investors and the regulations which need to be addressed in order to achieve a sustained, healthy growth of the capital market.

Of immediate concern are the alarming signs of a sector-driven frenzy in the primary market. While the response to the software issues appears heartening, it also sends some disturbing signals, with over-subscriptions in the range of 20 to 60 times. In this context, the role of public issuefinancing also merits attention. Moreover, the special treatment to the IT sector, Haldea feels, needs to be carefully examined lest it becomes an avenue for misuse. While there will be a few good issuances, the chances of several weak companies as well as of companies charging high premium look imminent. Over 40 issues from software sector have already been announced.

On the other hand, while the huge success of the first-ever domestic equity book-building offering provides comfort, the reasons are attributable not only to the fundamentals but to the sentiments.