SEBI Open Market Buybacks: Who Moves First?

SEBI Open Market Buybacks Return: The Starting Gun Has Fired SEBI's decision to reinstate open market buybacks via stock exchanges, effective August 1, 2026, hands India's cash-richest listed companies a capital return tool that's been off the table since 2024. The revised framework mandates completion within 66 working days, roughly 13 calendar weeks. That's a tight window. It forces boards to move with intent rather than sit on approvals indefinitely. The timing isn't random. Indian markets have been under pressure from FII outflows and a stronger dollar cycle, compressing valuations across IT and energy. A buyback signal from a Nifty 50 heavyweight right now carries outsized sentiment weight. Open market buybacks, unlike tender offers, let companies buy opportunistically when the stock dips. That makes this mechanism particularly appealing for management teams watching their own shares trade below intrinsic value. For investors, the question isn't whether buybacks will happen. It's *who moves first* and whether the market has already priced in that possibility. IT Sector: TCS and Infosys Have the Clearest Runway [TCS](/stock/TCS) (NSE: TCS) is the most obvious candidate. As of Q4 FY25, TCS held net cash and equivalents of approximately ₹56,700 crore, with free cash flow conversion consistently above 100% of net income. The company returned ₹73,405 crore to shareholders through buybacks between 2017 and 2023 across five rounds. It knows this playbook cold. With TCS trading at a forward P/E near 23x against its five-year average of 27x, management has a credible price-to-value argument to make to the board. [Infosys](/stock/INFY) (NSE: INFY) is the second name every institutional desk will run screens on. Infosys completed a ₹9,300 crore buyback in 2023 via the tender offer route. Its cash position remains healthy at around ₹32,000 crore net cash, and the company has historically used buybacks as an EPS management tool during periods of muted revenue growth. ...