A Bhiwandi-based manufacturer of propeller shafts and driveline components has just crossed the halfway mark of its three-day bidding window, and the early read is more encouraging than most mainboard debuts get. Adroit Industries (India) Ltd opened its books on September 23 at a Rs. 126–134 price band, looking to raise Rs. 150.71 crore through a mainboard listing.
The company supplies torque-transmission parts to commercial vehicle makers, defence contractors and off-highway equipment manufacturers, arriving at a time when India’s auto component exporters have held their ground even as global manufacturing sentiment stays choppy. A minimum application of Rs. 14,874 keeps this within retail reach, and unlike much of the SME paper flooding the market this month, subscription here has already started moving before the book has even closed.
Two Days In, the Numbers Are Already Talking
The issue was opened for subscription on Wednesday and will close on Friday, September 25. Typically, the subscription witnesses its peak on the last day as institutional and HNI money flows in. However, this issue witnessed an unusually quick subscription surge on the first day itself with the overall subscription hitting 8.8 times by the close of the day one.
Anchor investors subscribed to Rs. 45.21 crore worth of shares a day before the issue opened for retail investors with half of the shares getting unlocked on 30-day terms and the remaining on 90-day standard terms, worth knowing about any supply overhang post-listing. The allotment letter will be issued dated September 28 and shares expected to get credited to demat accounts by September 29, before being listed on September 30.
A Premium That’s Cooled a Touch, But Hasn’t Cracked
Grey market dealers are quoting Adroit Industries at Rs. 30 over the upper band, implying a listing price near Rs. 168, a gain of roughly 25.4%. That’s meaningful, though it’s also come off its highs: the premium touched Rs. 37 on September 18, drifted down to Rs. 32 through the 20th and 21st, then climbed back to Rs. 30 and has held there since. InvestorGain’s trend model still classifies this as “Stable”: across the last seven sessions, the premium has moved within a Rs. 5 band, with more negative sessions than positive ones but no real breakdown. For a company in a fairly cyclical, capex-heavy segment, that’s arguably the more reassuring signal than a premium still chasing new highs.
Mostly Fresh Capital, With a Modest Exit Built In
Of the Rs. 150.71 crore on offer, Rs. 132.62 crore (98.97 lakh shares) is a fresh issue going to the company, while Rs. 18.09 crore (13.50 lakh shares) is an offer for sale from promoter Mukesh Sangla’s HUF entity. That OFS slice is just under 12% of the total raise, so most of what investors are putting in is headed toward the business rather than a promoter exit. One lot at the top of the band works out to 111 shares Rs. 14,874 for a single lot, up to Rs. 1,93,362 for the maximum 13 lots.
Following the Money: Capacity, Not Working Capital
Unlike many EPC or services IPOs that raise money to fund receivables, Adroit Industries is putting this capital almost entirely into physical capacity. Around Rs. 20 crore is earmarked for machinery and transport vehicles at its Dewas facility, while a larger Rs. 44 crore goes into subsidiary Adroit Driveshafts for similar capex at Pithampur, with another Rs. 24 crore set aside to pay down that unit’s borrowings.
That fits a company running a genuinely integrated operation forging, machining, heat treatment, assembly, balancing and testing all in-house, rather than outsourced. It’s also likely why total borrowings jumped from Rs. 8.32 crore to Rs. 52.40 crore in FY26, even as the balance sheet otherwise looks conservative, with debt-to-equity at 0.41.
Growth Looks Uneven on Revenue, Sharp on Profit
Looking at the financials, the numbers tell an interesting story with revenue growing only by 5% year-on-year to Rs. 143.04 crore in FY26 modest for a company raising fresh capex money. However, profit after tax jumped 44% to Rs. 26.16 crore with EBITDA margin at a strong 27.66%, ROE at 22.54% and ROCE at 19.01%. Typically, a flat revenue number and a soaring profit number indicates a richer product mix or better operating leverage without having to resort to higher volumes, worth investigating further before jumping to any conclusions.
At the top of the band, Adroit Industries is valued at roughly Rs. 600.43 crore post-issue, about 22.95 times FY26 earnings, up from 17.89 times pre-issue dilution from new shares, not a shift in the business. Whether that looks rich depends on how it stacks against listed peers in the driveline space.
A Business Riding on Global Commercial Vehicle Demand
Beyond the mechanics, Adroit’s fortunes track commercial vehicle and off-highway demand worldwide. It shipped to customers across 32-plus countries in FY26, spanning North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, a genuinely diversified export book. That spread insulates the business from any single market’s slowdown, but also means currency and freight costs abroad matter more here than for a purely domestic supplier.
One detail worth flagging: with 367 employees across the parent and subsidiary managing 5,000-plus SKUs, this isn’t a lean, asset-light operation. Whether that manufacturing depth becomes a durable moat as volumes scale, or a drag if commercial vehicle demand softens, is the more interesting question for anyone holding past listing day.