By Nesil Staney
The share price of National Stock Exchange (NSE) hit a record high of Rs 2,200 on Tuesday in the grey market, a day after reports emerged it is willing to pay as much as Rs 1,000 crore to settle case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and revive its initial public offer (IPO) plans.
With the rise in the share price of the country’s largest exchange, NSE now ranks 11 in India’s most valued firms with Rs 5.44 lakh crore m-cap ahead of ITC and L&T.
Reliance Industries tops the list with Rs 19.2 lakh crore, followed by HDFC Bank and TCS at Rs14.7 lakh crore and Rs 12.6 lakh crore.
The m-cap of rival BSE is Rs 97,840 crore, less than a fifth of NSE. BSE share prices are trading at Rs 2,400. The heavy demand for NSE shares in grey market also stems from the returns of BSE upon listing in 2017. BSE’s pre-IPO price was Rs 200. The issue price was Rs 806 and listing price at NSE was Rs 1,069.
“The share price has risen exponentially. There is lot of institutional interest. Its IPO will be absorbed easily,” said Vikaas M Sachdeva, managing director of Sundaram Alternatives.
NSE has been trying for an IPO for the last decade. It applied for the first time in 2016. However, a large number of controversies put paid to its plans. Last week, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that the regulator is working with the exchange to iron out various issues. This has raised hopes that NSE could get listed soon.
The exchange reported operational revenue of Rs 3,771 crore in March, down 18% year-on-year compared to Rs 4,625 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.
Its number of shareholders has seen a sharp increase from around 33,896 in March-end to 100,000 recently.
