The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will launch its much-awaited Rs 22,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) on September 17, marking a key milestone for the country’s largest stock exchange more than three decades after it began operations. The issue will remain open for subscription until September 21, while bidding for anchor investors will take place on September 16.
The entirely offer-for-sale (OFS) issue will comprise 126.44 million shares at a price band of Rs 1,700-1,785 apiece, valuing the offer at Rs 21,494-22,568 crore. At the upper end of the price band, it will be the largest IPO in India’s financial sector and the second-largest public issue in the country after Hyundai Motor India.
Investors can bid for a minimum lot of eight shares and in multiples of eight thereafter. Eligible employees will receive a discount of Rs 170 per share.
Ahead of the IPO, NSE Managing Director and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan highlighted the exchange’s transformation from handling about 700 trades on its first day of operations in 1994 to around 30 crore trades on a busy day now.
“NSE is India’s largest exchange and, by many counts, it’s one of the largest in the world. The purpose of NSE was also to channel savings into capital. It’s a testament that NSE has fulfilled the mandate its founders started with,” Chauhan said at the exchange’s IPO press conference in Mumbai on Friday.
NSE began equity market operations on November 3, 1994, and has since expanded across asset classes while building much of the technology underpinning its trading infrastructure.
“We are among the largest vertically integrated exchanges in the sense that we own our technology. Some exchanges focus on commodities or equities. We are across asset classes — commodities, currencies, electricity, even charity,” Chauhan said.
Highlighting NSE’s technology capabilities, he said the exchange operates with response times of 500-800 nanoseconds and has built systems around continuous availability. “Many organisations can’t measure that, let alone offer services,” he said.
The final red herring prospectus (RHP) saw the size of the OFS reduced from 148.91 million shares to 126.44 million shares, as several corporate shareholders cut the number of shares they plan to sell.
State Bank of India made the largest reduction, cutting its offer to 15.97 million shares from 24.75 million earlier, while MS Strategic (Mauritius) reduced its offer to 11.87 million shares from 16 million.
Other domestic shareholders, including Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India and General Insurance Corporation of India, also substantially reduced the number of shares offered from more than 10 million each to around 6-7 million.
The final prospectus also added SBI Capital Markets as a selling shareholder, with an offer of 8.78 million shares, while National Insurance Company will no longer participate in the OFS.
Chauhan explained that the OFS size was reduced by corporate selling shareholders after it became clear that the shares offered had already exceeded the regulatory requirement for the IPO.
NSE’s dominance in Indian equities remains a key pillar of its business. In Q1FY27, the exchange commanded a 93.05% market share in the cash market and 99.72% in equity futures. Its share in equity options stood at 68.48%. Beyond its existing businesses, the exchange is also looking at growth opportunities from electronic gold receipts (EGRs) and its subsidiaries.
The exchange’s rapid growth over the past several years has been driven partly by the surge in derivatives trading. Its revenue more than doubled between FY19 and FY26 to around Rs 18,700 crore. NSE reported a profit of Rs 10,300 crore in FY26, though this was 15% lower than the previous year.
The management expressed confidence that the exchange would continue to grow despite the recent decline in derivatives volumes amid regulatory changes, volatility following the introduction of the closing auction session and an increase in securities transaction tax (STT).
“In the long run, India’s growth, India’s demographics, technological adoption will prevail. What you see is a short-term blip,” Chauhan said.
He added that regulations aimed at protecting investors would ultimately support greater participation in the markets. “If the regulator makes those regulations which are in favour of investors, then naturally more investors come in, and that’s what we have seen,” he said.
At Friday’s press conference, the management cited NSE’s industry leadership, long-term earnings growth, rising incomes supporting greater participation in capital markets and a stable dividend distribution track record as factors underpinning its growth prospects.
The OFS will see several prominent institutional shareholders pare their holdings, including State Bank of India, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Aranda Investments (Mauritius), MS Strategic (Mauritius), New India Assurance Company, SBI Capital Markets, Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India, General Insurance Corporation of India and United India Insurance Company.
The listing will cap a long wait for NSE, which first initiated plans to go public about a decade ago. With regulatory hurdles now cleared, the IPO will give investors an opportunity to own a stake in the exchange that dominates trading in India’s equity and derivatives markets.
The shares are proposed to be listed on rival BSE. NSE clarified that it has not, as of now, sought regulatory permission that would allow its shares to also trade on its own exchange.