After several subdued years, India's IPO pipeline is filling up again. However, the window for going public can close faster than most finance teams might expect. The difference between a listing that commands a premium and one that struggles to find takers rarely comes down to the business itself. Instead, it depends on whether the CFO's office had already done the unglamorous work: ensuring clean financials, credible governance and a growth story that holds up under sceptical questioning from bankers, analysts and institutional investors.

In this session, Ramakrishnan Subramanian (Ramki) will unpack what it takes to make a company IPO-ready, drawing on nearly three decades spent on both sides of the table — as a listed-company CFO and as an advisor guiding companies through the deal process. He will map the 12–18 month runway CFOs need, the governance and controllership foundations that can withstand due diligence, and how finance leaders can build a narrative that survives beyond the roadshow, holding up long after the listing bell has rung.