Once a company has decided to proceed with an initial public offering, or IPO, it follows the steps below to get its IPO ready for the markets.

1. An IPO application is filed with SEBI. This includes the number of shares to be issued, the price set (in the case of a fixed-price IPO), previous records of the company, the proposed use for the funds to be raised, etc.
2. Once the application is approved, the company issues a Red Herring Prospectus, which contains information on its past records and details about the IPO.
3. The company contracts a lead manager to manage the sale of the IPO, which may be an investment bank or brokerage, which then solicits bids for the IPO from investors.
4. The IPO is open for a period of 3–21 days, during which investors can offer bids for shares. During this time, investors can subscribe to it by specifying the amount they’d like to invest. If they’re successful, the shares are credited to their demat account.