Indian bourses saw over $8 billion worth of initial public offers in 2007, but this is just a shade higher than the world's single-largest IPO that was brought by a Russian company, latest data show.

The worldwide IPO activity raised a record capital of $255 billion till November in 2007, including $8.3 billion on Indian bourses, according to data compiled by international consultancy firm Ernst and Young.

India was the fifth largest market in terms of number of IPOs and seventh largest in terms of the proceeds for the year, E&Y said.

There were 95 IPOs in the first 11 months, while the preliminary data for the month of December shows that the total number for the year would be more than 100, it noted. China came tops with total IPO proceeds of $54.4 billion through 222 issues.

Globally, there were as many as 1,739 IPOs between January and November, while another 91 public issues are estimated to have hit the capital markets during December. The largest IPO of the year came from Russia's VTB Bank, which alone raised $8 billion.

In India, the largest IPO of the year was brought by realty giant DLF which raised about Rs 9,187.50 crore (more than $2 billion).

E&Y said the strength of India's economy, stock market, corporate profits and private equity fuelled IPOs in 2007. In the previous year, the market had seen 78 IPOs raising $7.23 billion.

The study said 14 of the top 20 IPOs were from emerging BRIC markets and the surge in Indian IPO activity was a clear reflection of the growth in the Indian economy and the investor's confidence.

Together, the four BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- have raised $106.5 billion in 382 deals so far this year compared to $89.6 billion raised in 302 deals in the same period of 2006.

Asia-Pacific accounted for 46 per cent of the worldwide IPO league, ahead of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) which together accounted for 35 per cent and North America with 14 per cent.

EMEA and Asia-Pacific have the greatest market share of capital raised with 38 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively, eclipsing North America (16 per cent) and Central and South America (14 per cent).

Despite accounting for only 4 per cent of the total number of IPOs so far this year, HKSE was the leading exchange by capital raised, attracting a 13 per cent market share, mainly due to having some of the year's largest listings, including China CITIC Bank and China Railway.

NYSE was ranked second in terms of capital raised (11 per cent), attracting 3.6 per cent of total listings driven by a number of large US deals, including Blackstone Group and MF Global.

Although only 2 per cent of IPOs through November listed on LSE, it attracted 10 per cent of the capital raised, mainly through a few large Russian deals, including VTB Bank and Pik Group.