What Is a DRHP?
The Draft Red Herring Prospectus is the document SEBI reviews before an IPO is allowed to open — filed months earlier, with no price band or issue dates yet. What it contains, SEBI’s review process, and how it differs from the RHP you read once bidding is close.
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Published 19 September 2026 · IPO Sahayak
Every IPO an applicant sees has already been through a document most never read: the DRHP, filed with SEBI months before the issue opens. By the time bidding starts, the DRHP has become the RHP — the same document with the blanks filled in. Reading the DRHP is how analysts and journalists get an early read on an issue; knowing what it is and isn't is useful even if you never open one.
What a DRHP actually is
Draft Red Herring Prospectus. “Red herring” because it is published with a disclaimer, historically printed in red, saying the document is incomplete — specifically, it has no price and no final issue size yet. “Draft” because it hasn't been reviewed by SEBI's yet: this is the version filed for that review, not after it.
It is filed with SEBI and, for a mainboard issue, also with the stock exchanges the company intends to list on. It runs to several hundred pages for a mainboard company and covers the same ground the final RHP does: business, risk factors, financials, promoters, objects of the offer, litigation — everything except the two numbers that need real market conditions and investor demand to set: the price and the exact size.
What SEBI does with it
- Filing. The company, through its lead managers, files the DRHP with SEBI and pays the required fee. The document is published simultaneously on SEBI's website and the lead managers' own sites.
- Public comment window. SEBI keeps the DRHP open for public comment for 21 days from the filing date. Anyone can write in; almost nobody outside analysts and competitors does.
- Observations. SEBI reviews the filing — disclosure adequacy, related-party transactions, litigation, accounting treatment — and comes back with “observations”: points the company must address, usually by adding or correcting disclosure, before it can proceed. SEBI's own stated timeline is around 30 days for a complete filing, though queries can extend that materially.
- Final observations issued. Once SEBI is satisfied, it issues its final observations — this is the approval that lets the company proceed to actually open the issue, subject to a validity window.
SEBI's observations are not an endorsement of the business or the price. They confirm the disclosure meets the required standard — that the risks, numbers and related-party dealings are stated, not that they're good. Reading “SEBI approved” as SEBI vouching for the company is the single most common misreading of this process.
DRHP versus RHP, specifically
Once SEBI's observations are in hand and the company decides to proceed, the DRHP is updated into the RHP — the version that actually accompanies the issue. What changes:
- Price band — absent in the DRHP, set and published with the RHP a few days before the issue opens.
- Exact issue size — the DRHP often states a range or an indicative amount; the RHP states the confirmed fresh issue and offer for sale figures. See fresh issue vs offer for sale for what that split is worth reading for.
- Bidding dates — set only once the RHP is filed.
- Updated financials — a DRHP filed early in the year may carry financials a full year old by the time the RHP comes out; the RHP restates them to the most recent available period.
- SEBI's observations incorporated — any additional disclosure or correction SEBI required during review shows up in the RHP, not the original DRHP.
Everything else — the business description, the risk factors, the litigation table, the objects of the offer in narrative form — is substantially the same document. For the full walkthrough of what to actually read once the RHP is out, see how to read an IPO RHP in 20 minutes.
Why anyone reads a DRHP before the RHP exists
A DRHP filing is the first public confirmation that a company intends to list, often months before an issue opens — analysts and financial journalists use it to build an early read on the business, and it is where the numbers behind “X company files for a ₹Y crore IPO” headlines come from. For someone tracking a specific company they expect to apply to, reading the DRHP early means knowing the business and the risk factors well before the compressed window between the RHP filing and the issue opening — most of the substance doesn't change.
Where to find one
SEBI publishes every DRHP under its own public issues section, and the exchanges (NSE, BSE) carry them under the relevant issue's page once filed. The lead managers' own websites carry the same document. There is no cost and no login required for any of these.
What can happen after filing
A DRHP is an intention, not a guarantee. Companies withdraw filings, let SEBI's observations lapse without launching, or refile after material changes to the business. SEBI's final observations carry a validity period, and once it passes without the issue opening, the company has to go through the process again. None of this is unusual — market conditions during the filing-to-launch gap are the most common reason a DRHP never becomes a live issue.
Common questions
What does DRHP stand for?
Draft Red Herring Prospectus. It is the version of the offer document a company files with SEBI for review, before the issue has a price band or confirmed dates.
What is missing from a DRHP that the RHP has?
The price band, the exact number of shares in the fresh issue and offer for sale, and the bidding dates. Everything else — the business description, risk factors, financials, objects of the offer — is substantially the same, though the RHP updates the financials to a more recent period.
How long does SEBI take to review a DRHP?
SEBI’s stated timeline is to issue observations within about 30 days of a complete filing, though it can take longer if SEBI has queries or the filing needs revision. There is no fixed date a DRHP becomes an RHP — it depends on when SEBI’s observations come through and the company chooses to proceed.
Can anyone comment on a DRHP before it is approved?
Yes. SEBI publishes every DRHP on its own website and requires the lead managers to publish it too, and invites public comments for 21 days from the filing date. In practice very few individual investors do this, but the window is open to anyone.
Does filing a DRHP mean the IPO will definitely happen?
No. A DRHP is an intention to raise capital, not a commitment. Companies withdraw or let DRHPs lapse regularly — if market conditions turn, if the company’s numbers move against it, or simply because the window they were targeting closes. SEBI observations are valid for a limited period, and a lapsed approval means starting the filing over.
This is general information, not investment advice. IPO Sahayak is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst. Rules, limits and tax rates change — check the issue's offer document and the current SEBI and exchange circulars before you act on anything here.