India's financial regulator has announced plans to shorten the time delay between a company’s public share offering and the start of trading in its stock from 21 to seven days in a move that will make it less complicated for companies to carry out a dual-listing on an overseas exchange.

The time delay in the initial public offering process was introduced to ensure that retail investors had enough opportunity to purchase shares but the improved process, expected to be introduced in six months time, reflects the greater involvement of institutional investors in the Indian equity market.