Retail, HNI and QIB: The IPO Investor Categories, Explained
Every IPO is carved into reserved buckets. Which one you fall in decides your limits, your odds and how you're allotted.
10 September 2026 · CoinWhisperer
When you apply for an IPO, you're not competing against everyone equally — you're competing within your category. A book-built IPO reserves separate slices of shares for different investor types, and the rules for each are quite different. Here's how the buckets work.
The three main categories
| Category | Who | Typical reservation |
|---|---|---|
| Retail (RII) | Individuals applying up to ₹2 lakh | 35% |
| NII / HNI | Individuals & entities applying above ₹2 lakh | 15% |
| QIB | Institutions (funds, insurers, FPIs) | 50% |
(These are the standard splits for a profitable, book-built issue. Loss-making companies that list under the alternative eligibility route have a higher QIB share.)
Retail (RII): the ₹2 lakh line
If your total application is ₹2 lakh or less, you're a Retail Individual Investor. Retail gets a dedicated 35% and, crucially, a lottery-based allotment when oversubscribed: everyone who applies has an equal chance at the minimum lot, regardless of how many lots they bid for. Applying for more lots doesn't improve your odds once the category is oversubscribed — only having more PANs does.
NII / HNI — and the sNII vs bNII split
Cross ₹2 lakh and you become a Non-Institutional Investor (NII), commonly called an HNI. Since 2022, SEBI splits the NII bucket in two:
- sNII (“small” NII): applications of ₹2 lakh to ₹10 lakh — one-third of the NII quota.
- bNII (“big” NII): applications above ₹10 lakh — two-thirds of the NII quota.
Both sub-categories now use a draw of lots too (a big change from the old proportionate system), so bidding a huge amount no longer guarantees a proportionate allotment. When you compare a company's sNII and bNII subscription numbers, you're really comparing the odds in each sub-bucket.
QIB: the institutional slice
Qualified Institutional Buyers get 50% (and part of that goes to anchor investors the day before). QIB bids can't be withdrawn once placed, and QIB allotment is proportionate. As a retail or HNI applicant you don't bid here — but strong QIB subscription is a confidence signal worth watching.
The takeaway
Know which line you're on: under ₹2 lakh (Retail, equal-odds lottery), ₹2–10 lakh (sNII) or above ₹10 lakh (bNII). For a fixed budget, the smart question isn't “how many lots can I buy” — it's “which category gives me the best odds for the money I'm blocking.”
Educational explainer, not investment advice. Category rules and reservations change — verify against the IPO's RHP and SEBI norms.