After record subscription, Shyam Dhani stock jumps 100% on Day 1

Jaipur: Shyam Dhani Industries made a sizzling debut on the stock market Tuesday, listing at a nearly 90% premium over its issue price of Rs 70 on the NSE SME platform. The stock opened strongly and quickly hit the upper circuit, remaining locked at Rs 139.65, almost doubling from the issue price on the first day of trading.The blockbuster listing capped a remarkable IPO journey for the Jaipur-based spices company, which clocked one of the most extraordinary subscription figures in the country's SME market. The issue was subscribed close to 1,000%, ranking as the fifth most subscribed SME IPO in the market's history. In value terms, it attracted bids worth about Rs 25,306 crore, the largest-ever bidding seen against an issue size of just Rs 38.49 crore.
"This stellar listing only increased our responsibilities," said chairman and managing director Ramawtar Agarwal, reacting to the overwhelming investor response.Explaining the unprecedented subscription, Ashok Holani of Holani Consultants, book-running lead manager, said investors were drawn by the company's business model, valuation and consistent growth. "We never saw bids of Rs 25,000 crore against a fund-raising of just Rs 38 crore," he said.For a company that began 3 decades ago as a small spice-grinding unit in Jaipur's VKI industrial area, the leap to the capital markets marked a dramatic transformation. Agarwal recalled starting out in 1995, when loose masala dominated Indian kitchens and the sector was largely unorganised. "From day 1, I wanted to build a brand. It was a bold bet at a time when branding spices seemed unnecessary," said Agarwal.The brand's first major breakthrough came in 2006, when it entered modern trade by supplying private-label masala to Reliance. Successful tie-ups soon followed with Spencer's, Aditya Birla Group and others. However, Agarwal said the 2012 association with Metro Cash and Carry proved to be a turning point by giving Shyam Dhani nationwide visibility. Over time, the company diversified across all channels, from general trade, kirana stores, and modern retail chains such as Reliance and D-Mart, to e-commerce platforms.Shyam Dhani expanded from single spices to blends, then to whole spices, and in 2018 entered the FMCG segment with products like poha, rice and sabudana.