By Mary Watkins in Mumbai

The amount of money raised through initial public offerings in India has fallen by more than 80 per cent year on year, as waning appetite from investors for new issues has prompted large companies to postpone their listings.

According to figures from data provider Dealogic, in the past six months there have been 22 listings in India, raising a combined $780m – well down on the same period last year when just over $4bn was raised in India through 28 IPOs.

Global IPO fundraising for the year to date, meanwhile, is up 14 per cent at $114bn – buoyed by sizeable listings in Hong Kong and the US.

Some 15 companies that secured the go-ahead to list from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) have allowed their IPO approval from the regulator to lapse in the past six months, highlighting how cautious larger companies have become. Sebi gives companies one year from the date of approval to launch an IPO.

Among the companies that have allowed their IPO approval to expire are Jindal Power, Sterlite Energy and Anil Ambani?s Reliance Infratel, a mobile towers unit that is now in talks over a possible sale.

Jagannadham Thunuguntla, chief strategist at New Delhi-based SMC Global Securities, said it was significant that the list included a number of companies in sectors that have fallen out of favour with investors.

Shares in many of the real estate companies that floated between 2007 and 2009 are trading 60-80 per cent below their issue price, while those in the power sector are trading 30-50 per cent lower.

?Most Indian companies like to come to market at punchy valuations,? said Saurabh Mukherjea, head of equities at Ambit Capital in Mumbai. ?But the global market conditions over the past six months haven?t given potential issuers the valuations they desire, so they?ve kept away.?

Weak market sentiment is also bad news for the Indian government, which is looking to raise billions of dollars by selling stakes in state-owned companies. Analysts are already saying the government will find it difficult to hit its Rs400bn ($9bn) divestment target for 2011-12.

?The perception of foreign investors has been subdued,? said Mr Thunuguntla. ?The days of easy money are behind us. Almost every industry is suffering a headache.?

? The Financial Times Limited 2011