QIB, NII, sNII/bNII and Retail categories explained: who bids where, reservation percentages, and how allotment differs in each.
Every book-built mainboard IPO splits demand into: QIB (Qualified Institutional Buyers — mutual funds, insurers, FPIs; bids of ₹10 crore+ a day before opening, up to 60% of their portion via anchor investors), NII (Non-Institutional Investors — bids above ₹2 lakh), and RII (Retail — up to ₹2 lakh). Typical split: 50% / 15% / 35%, with a small employee quota sometimes carved out.
Since 2021, NII is split: sNII (₹2–10 lakh bids, one-third of NII) and bNII (above ₹10 lakh, two-thirds). Allotment here is proportionate, not lottery — bigger valid bids get bigger allotments, which is also why HNI funding (borrowing to bid) exists.
Each bucket reads differently: QIB is the smart-money signal (institutions do deep diligence); bNII shows leveraged conviction; retail shows breadth. An IPO at 50x total driven only by retail differs completely from one driven by QIBs — DostIpo shows all three live on the subscription tracker, and the X-Ray weighs QIB demand into its subscription pillar.
Retail (≤₹2L): one lot per winner by lottery when oversubscribed. sNII/bNII: proportionate allotment, but capital blocked is larger and funding costs apply if borrowed. QIB/anchor: pre-open bidding, 30/90-day lock-ins that later move prices (see the anchor lock-in calculator).
Up to ₹2 lakh per application counts as retail; the actual minimum is one lot (lot size × upper band price), usually well under ₹20,000 for mainboard issues.
Only qualified institutions — mutual funds, insurers, banks, FPIs — with a minimum bid of ₹10 crore. Retail investors cannot enter this bucket.
No. NII allotment is proportionate to valid demand — heavy oversubscription still means small allotments, unlike retail's lottery which is all-or-one-lot.
Last updated: 14 Oct 2026, 00:16 IST