Two companies priced their initial public offers on Monday at the opposite end of their indicated band, company and sources said, showing investors were reticent to back high-priced share sales.
State power utility SJVN Ltd, which raised $240 million, said in a newspaper advertisement it set the price at the top end of the Rs 23-26 share range.
The IPO was the first share sale by the government in this fiscal year that started on April 1 and was covered 6.6 times when it closed on May 3.
Institutions had bid almost nine times their allotment, while retail investors were three times.
Private-sector road builder Jaypee Infratech raised about $502 million after the deal was priced at the bottom of its Rs 102-117 share range, according to sources with direct knowledge.
The company, a unit of construction firm Jaiprakash Associates, had received most bids at Rs 102 and was covered 1.24 times.
Jaypee is developing the 165-kilometre, six-lane Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh at a cost of $2 billion.
The expressway will connect Noida, near Delhi, with Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located. The company plans to develop real estate of about 25 million square metres along the expressway.
Both offers will issue shares to retail investors and employees at a 5 percent dis count to the issue price.