In Star Health’s IPO, a moment of truth for Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

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Editor's note: Star Health and Allied Insurance’s initial public offer of shares should have been among the highlights of this year’s unending public listing frenzy. After all, at Rs 7,249 crore, it is the third largest in terms of size this year, behind only those of Paytm and Zomato.  Yet, Star Health’s draft red herring prospectus, filed ahead of its public issue of shares, has escaped public scrutiny. Unlike the frenzy in the run-up to Paytm and Zomato’s IPOs, Star Health hasn’t attracted any newspaper headlines that deliver verdicts on its draft prospectus or lengthy Twitter threads by analysts dissecting every aspect of its business model. Nothing by way of recommendations for retail investors on YouTube or Instagram as well.  Puzzling, given this is a company with a track record of profitability in a sector that is destined to grow. For starters, this is the first standalone health insurer to go public in India. It comes amid fears of a resurgence of the pandemic. And, it precedes the mega-IPO of government-owned Life Insurance Corp. of India, speculated to come up early next …