Citigroup has vaulted to the top of India's investment banking fee league table for the first half of 2026, a dramatic climb from 27th place a year earlier, as the U.S. bank's fees in the country surged 705% year-on-year to $60.3 million, according to data from LSEG Deals Intelligence.
The jump gives Citi a 9.8% wallet share of India's total investment banking fee pool, which itself shrank 20% year-on-year to $614.1 million in the first half. Citi's rise was propelled by its dominance in dealmaking: the bank also topped the M&A financial advisory rankings, advising on $30.2 billion worth of announced deals with any Indian involvement, a market share of 34.7% and a 1,047% jump in value from a year ago, across just 8 deals.
Behind Citi, Ernst & Young PLC held on to second place in the fee table, earning $43.0 million, up 124% year-on-year. Axis Bank Ltd was third with $38.1 million, up 16%. Arpwood Capital, a new entrant to the top ranks, took fourth with $33.7 million and a 5.5% wallet share, while Jefferies LLC, last year's leader, slipped to fifth as its fees fell 60% to $27.9 million.
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The fee pool's overall decline masked sharply divergent trends across products. Completed M&A advisory fees actually grew 24% year-on-year to $265.0 million, the best-performing segment. But ECM underwriting fees fell 34% to $188.6 million, DCM underwriting fees dropped 49% to $84.2 million, and syndicated lending fees declined 26% to $76.3 million, underscoring a first half in which capital markets issuance cooled even as deal advisory work picked up.
That split was echoed by Elaine Tan, Senior Manager at LSEG Deals Intelligence, who pointed to a rebound in M&A activity even as equity issuance retreated to multi-year lows.
"India M&A rebounded in 1H2026, with deal value up 31% year-on-year to US$86.9 billion, despite an 8% drop in volumes—highlighting fewer but larger transactions," Tan said. "Momentum was concentrated in Q2 which totaled US$66.9 billion, more than triple the prior quarter and the highest quarterly total since Q2 2022, driven by a handful of large restructurings, cross-border acquisitions, and domestic consolidation."
Tan said sector dynamics shifted, with materials leading at 28% of total value, supported by transactions such as the US$20.6 billion Vedanta Aluminium spin-off. "Healthcare, industrials and financials also saw solid activity, while high technology remained active by volume but declined in value. Overall, dealmaking continues to focus on scale, portfolio realignment, and selective outbound expansion into developed markets."
India-involvement M&A activity reached $86.9 billion in the first half, its highest first-half total since 2022. Target India M&A totaled $68.0 billion, up 12.2%, with domestic M&A rising 8.7% to $54.2 billion and inbound M&A up 28.8% to $13.8 billion, the strongest first-half inbound tally since 2024. Outbound M&A more than tripled to $18.7 billion, its highest first-half level since 2010. The United States was both the largest foreign acquirer of Indian assets, accounting for 35.8% of inbound M&A, and the top overseas destination for Indian acquirers, capturing 73.9% of outbound activity.
Slowdown on ECM side
On the equity side, Tan flagged a sharper slowdown. "Equity capital markets activity in India fell to a three-year low during the first half of 2026, with total ECM proceeds declining 38% from a year ago to US$16.5 billion, alongside a 19% drop in number of issues, reflecting a slower pace of capital raising amid more selective market conditions," she said.
"Despite softer proceeds in 1H2026 after a strong 2025, IPO volumes remained elevated with over 100 listings, reflecting continued breadth in market activity, and setting the stage for a stronger second half, as marquee IPOs such as Jio Platforms and NSE potentially come to market."
Jefferies LLC led the ECM bookrunner rankings despite the sector-wide pullback, underwriting $2.6 billion of India-domiciled equity issuance for a 15.5% market share. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd was second with $2.1 billion, and Axis Bank Ltd third with $1.2 billion.
India's debt capital markets saw an even steeper contraction, with bond proceeds by India-domiciled issuers dropping 41.8% year-on-year to $37.6 billion, a four-year low. Axis Bank Ltd topped the DCM bookrunner table with $4.6 billion in related proceeds and a 12.3% market share, ahead of Trust Group and HDFC Bank Ltd.
