Trend of buybacks offsetting shares entering market is worrying: Experts

Since 2016, Rs 1.3 trillion worth of fresh equity has been issued while Rs 1.1 trillion has been repurchased

Share buybacks in the domestic market have skyrocketed in the past three years, following the increase in dividend tax and impetus from government disinvestment. 

This has been to the extent that they are beginning to eat into the domestic equity float. Since 2016, shares worth Rs 1.1 trillion have been extinguished through share repurchase programmes. This is 85 per cent of the new equity paper that has entered the market during the same period. 

Around Rs 1.3 trillion worth of fresh equity paper was issued in the past three years through rights offerings, qualified institutional placements (QIPs), and initial public offerings (only