Mumbai, Aug. 5 -- Amid rising global trade tensions and lacklustre corporate earnings, India's retail and high-net-worth investors are pouring capital into initial public offerings (IPOs) in pursuit of quick listing gains. But risks are mounting. Five IPOs that closed last week collectively received Rs.2.46 lakh crore in bids, against a combined offer size of Rs.7,008 crore, according to exchange data. That amounts to an oversubscription of about 35 times. The issues include India's largest depository National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), Aditya Infotech, Sri Lotus Developers and Realty Ltd, M&B Engineering Ltd, and Laxmi India Finance Ltd. NSDL's offering drew the most interest by value, with bids worth Rs.1.15 lakh crore for shares worth Rs.4,011.6 crore. Non-institutional investors, which include small and big high net-worth investors, investing above Rs.2 lakh and Rs.10 lakh respectively, bid for 262.7 million shares, over 35 times the 7.50 million shares available. Retail investors, applying for up to Rs.2 lakh, bid for 135.5 million shares, 7.7 times the shares on offer. Aditya Infotech saw even stronger demand. Non-institutional investors placed bids for 218.4 million shares, or 72 times the shares offered. Retail participation stood at 50.87 times, with bids for 102.8 million shares. Aditya Infotech's issue closed on July 31 and is scheduled to list on August 5. NSDL is expected to follow a day later. "The motive for the overwhelming subscription seen among the HNIs and retail category is largely flipping, which is especially risky if the issue lists at a discount to the offer price," said Nilesh Shah, managing director at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Flipping-subscribing to IPOs purely to sell on listing day for a quick gain-can backfire if a stock debuts flat or below the issue price. Shah cautioned that investors chasing quick returns without understanding fundamentals risk disappointment. Over the past four months, IPO activity has picked up significantly. From April 7 through August 1, 23 IPOs were listed, delivering an average listing gain of 10.3%, according to data from Equentis, a stock advisory firm. Seventeen of these IPOs closed above their issue price on debut, while six listed at a discount. The best performer, GNG Electronics, gained 49.8% on its listing last Wednesday, debuting at Rs.355 per share. Arisinfra Solutions, on the other hand, opened 7.7% below its issue price of Rs.222 on June 25. According to independent market analyst Ambareesh Baliga, the pullback in the markets from June 30 through last Friday, owing to weak quarterly earnings and tariff related uncertainty, had many retail and HNIs waiting at the sidelines. With the correction having happened even prior to the Trump announcement last Wednesday, the uncertainty on the tariff count was over and for want of other lucrative investment avenues, the dry powder has been used for last week's issues, including a marquee company like NSDL which has seen 41x subscription overall. "In an oversubscribed issue, the HNI category will be allotted at least Rs.2 lakh worth of shares. So, say you've invested Rs.10 lakh and the issue is oversubscribed, you will get shares worth Rs.2 lakh and if the issue lists at a premium of say 15% , the return over four days post allotment is Rs.30,000 which is quite attractive," he said....