Shares of Barbeque-Nation Hospitality fell 2 per cent in their market debut on Wednesday, after the casual dining restaurant chain raised about 4.53 billion rupees ($61.62 million) through an initial public offering (IPO).

The trading debut comes as a resurgence in coronavirus infections in India threatens to derail a nascent recovery in business for restaurants, malls and movie theaters.

Shares of Barbeque-Nation opened at 489.85 rupees, below the offer price of 500 rupees. Stock recovered to trade up 17.6 per cent, as of 0507 GMT, after dropping as much as 3.6 per cent in early session.

While the offering was oversubscribed about six times last month, it pales in comparison with the interest generated by some other listings this year including paint maker Indigo Paints Ltd, which was 50 times oversubscribed, and engineering firm MTAR Technologies Ltd, which was oversubscribed more than 100 times.

Barbeque-Nation had posted a net loss of 987.2 million rupees for the eight months ended November 2020, and an annual loss of 323.9 million for the year ended March 2020.

The restaurant chain, which has 138 outlets in India, offered a fresh issue of 1.8 billion rupees and a sale offer of up to 5.5 million shares.

Fundraising via IPOs is at a 13-year high in India due to a flood of overseas investments and as unusual interest from mom-and-pop investors spur more listings, making India one of the hottest IPO markets in 2021.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company competes with listed peers such as Speciality Restaurants in the dining segment, while some of its quick-servicing rivals are Westlife Development, Jubilant Foodworks and Burger King India Ltd.