Is it possible for individual to apply for both retail (below 2 lakh) and HNI (above 2 lakhs) for a IPO?

No, individual cannot apply for both Retail and HNI category for an IPO. If retail investor applies for more than Rs 2,00,000 of shares in an IPO, they automatically considered as High Networth Individual (HNI). The HNI bids fall under Non-Institutional Category (NII).

If a company offered a discount to retail investor, that discount is not available to HNI in NII Category.

Also the allotment is done in a different manner in NII Category. NII receive allotment in a proportionate basis in case of oversubscription. For example if IPO oversubscribed 100 times in this category, applicant will surely get 1 share for each 100 shares he has applied for. In retail category, in case of oversubscription, irrespective to how many shares applied, maximum 1 lot is given to the investor.

Retail Individual investors (RII) have a minimum allocation of 35% of shares of the total issue size in Book Build IPO's. The NII usually have 15% of the shares reserve and remain 50% are reserved for Qualified Institutional buyers (QIB).