The 2025 Indian Premier League was the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league held in India, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is held annually since the first edition in 2008. In July 2024, the IPL Governing Council held a meeting with the owners of the franchises and announced that a mega auction would be conducted ahead of the 2025 season. It is the sixth mega auction after 2008, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2022.
The franchises were required to submit their retention lists before 31 October 2024, and a total of 46 players were retained ahead of the auction. The auction was held on 24 and 25 November 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with the auction purse for each franchise set at , highest in the history of IPL. A total of 1,574 players registered for the auction, of which 574 players were shortlisted to feature in the auction and 182 were sold in the auction.
Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of IPL when he was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for , surpassing paid by Punjab Kings for Shreyas Iyer earlier in the same auction, and paid by Kolkata Knight Riders for Mitchell Starc in the 2024 auction. Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player sold in the IPL history at the age of 13 years, being bought by Rajasthan Royals for .
Following the IPL's suspension and rescheduling, it was announced that the franchises would be allowed to sign temporary replacement players in place of unavailable players as the rescheduled fixtures clashed with the international cricket calendar, notably West Indies tour of Ireland, West Indies tour of England and World Test Championship final. These temporary replacement players would not be available for retention in the 2026 auction.
Player retention.
Retention policy.
The ten franchises were allowed to retain a maximum of six players from their squad, the highest number allowed before any of the mega auctions. The six players could consist of a maximum of five capped players (including Indian and overseas players) and two uncapped players. The auction purse for each franchise was set at , the highest in the history of the IPL. Franchises were deducted a specific amount from the auction purse for every retained player. Franchises who did not retain the maximum number of players, were allowed Right-to-Match (RTM) cards at the auction.
Retained players.
The franchises were required to submit their retention lists before 31 October 2024.
 
Auction.
Any player willing to play in the IPL were required to register for the auction. Players who do not register for the mega auction would become ineligible to participate in the mini-auctions held in the subsequent years. Any auctioned player withdrawing before the season without legitimate reason or injury, would be banned from the IPL for a period of two years. Any Indian capped player who wasn't named in the starting XI in international cricket (Test, ODI, T20I) in the preceding five calendar years or did not have a central contract with the BCCI was considered as an uncapped player for the auction. The salary cap of a player would consist of auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. Each playing member (including the impact player) would get a match fee of in addition to the auctioned price.
The auction was held on 24 and 25 November 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mallika Sagar was appointed as the auctioneer for the second consecutive time, after she hosted the 2024 auction. A total of 1,574 players registered for the auction, of which 574 players were shortlisted to feature in the auction.
 " denotes players bought by RTM cards."
 " denotes temporary replacement players."