What are the different investor categories in an IPO (Retail, HNI, QIB, etc.)?

Under Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines, four types of investors can bid for shares during an IPO process. These are: 

• Retail Investors (RII): Individuals who invest up to ₹2 lakh. 
• HNI/NII (High Net-worth Individuals): Individual investors applying for more than ₹2 lakh. 
• QIB (Qualified Institutional Buyers): Institutional investors with large capital like mutual funds, banks, and insurance companies. 
• Shareholder Quota: Some IPOs offer a reserved quota for existing shareholders of the parent company. The prospectus contains information about the eligibility, bid limits, allocation criteria, and discount (if any) for the shareholders. 
• Eligible Employees: The IPO issuing company sometimes reserves a portion of the public offering exclusively for its eligible employees. The prospectus provides information about the reservation quota for the employees along with discounts, if any.