By Nesil Staney
Three public sector units’ (PSUs) 23% stake in the unlisted National Stock Exchange (NSE) is valued at more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore, at the Rs 2,325 per share value, as per data from Sharescart and UnlistedZone.
This includes the large holdings of Life Insurance Corporation (10.7%), Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL) 4.40%, State Bank of India (SBI) 3.23% and its wholly-owned investment banking subsidiary SBI Caps 4.33%. The total market capitalisation (m-cap) of the country’s biggest exchange stands at Rs 5.75 lakh crore at the current price.
LIC alone has Rs 61,525 crore value parked in NSE, while SBI owns Rs 43,470 crore. Both SBI and LIC are the two largest PSUs, with Rs 7.18 lakh crore and Rs 6.05 lakh crore, respectively in m-cap. The value of shares owned by SHCIL, a part of IFCI, is Rs 25,300 crore.
Private equity investors, who own large stakes in NSE, include Aranda Investments Mauritius (Temasek Holdings), PI Opportunities Fund I (PremjiInvest) and MS Strategic Mauritius (Morgan Stanley).
NSE is the world’s largest exchange by number of derivative contracts traded and was also seventh largest exchange globally, in terms of m-cap of listed firms, as on May 31, 2025 according to the World Federation of Exchange.
As of May 2025, it has 2,735 companies listed, 2,116 with on the mainboard and 619 companies listed on its SME platform, with combined m-cap of Rs 457.59 lakh crore ($5.35 trillion) as of June 27, 2025.
SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey told FE recently that the NSE initial public offering (IPO) is on track and most paperwork is already sorted. “There is no obstacle remaining in the case of the NSE. There is some legal settlements and other things. Some amount will have to be paid and those cases would have to be withdrawn, and so on,” said Pandey.
The exchange has reportedly offered Rs 1,388 crore as a settlement fee to SEBI. If accepted, this would be the largest ever Sebi settlement to date and will speed up the issuance of the much-needed no-objection certificate (NOC), for NSE to proceed with filing its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP).