On Wednesday, shares of Lakshya Powertech Ltd made a strong debut on the NSE SME platform, Emerge. The SME stock began at Rs 342 and was listed at a 90% premium over its initial public offering (IPO) price of Rs 180. Listing gains on SME IPOs are now limited to 90% under recently amended regulations.

As the day progressed, the market debutant moved on to hit its 5% upper price band of Rs 359.10. At this price, it is up 99.5% from its issue price of Rs 180.

"The price band cap is (+)(-)5% for the first ten sessions when the stock trades in the trade-to-trade sector. The exchange then determines the circuit band, which might range between 10% and 20%," said market expert Arun Kejriwal.

Today, about 8.26 lakh shares changed hands on the NSE with a trading value of Rs 29.18 crore, for a market capitalization (m-cap) of Rs 362.11 crore.

The SME IPO was accessible for subscriptions from October 16 to October 18. Lakshya Powertech's IPO was overbooked 573.46 times, with bids totaling more than 108.31 crore shares against 18.88 lakh on offer.

The company stated that the proceeds from the public offering will be used to pay down debts and fund working capital requirements. A portion of the IPO profits will also be used for general business objectives, it stated.

The IPO included a fresh offering of 27,72,800 equity shares. Before its IPO, the company raised Rs 13.39 crore from anchor investors. The board allocated 7,44,000 lakh shares at Rs 180 each to 11 anchor investors.

The allotment of shares for the Lakshya Powertech IPO was completed on October 21. Kfin Technologies Ltd acted as registrar for the offering.

Lakshya Powertech was founded in 2012 as an engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning firm that specializes in mechanical and electrical services. It also provides operation and maintenance services for gas-fired power plants and large-scale power generation projects.