Subscription is the running tally of bids received versus the shares on offer. The exchange publishes subscription data multiple times during the bidding day for each category (Retail, NII, QIB, Employee, Shareholder, anchor) and an aggregate overall figure. The bidding window for mainboard IPOs is typically three working days.
Subscription multiples are the most credible real-time demand indicator — they come from the regulated bidding system, not the informal grey market. Final subscription is announced after the last day of bidding (usually 5 PM IST on the close day). A '30x oversubscribed' headline means demand was 30 times the available shares across categories combined.
Reading category-wise subscription tells you who is driving demand. QIB-led subscription suggests institutional conviction. Retail-led subscription without QIB support suggests speculative interest. Both QIB and retail strong, with healthy NII follow-through, is the most balanced signal pre-listing.