The National Stock Exchange (NSE) filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) late Wednesday, reviving its public listing plans after nearly a decade of regulatory delays.
The proposed initial public offering (IPO) consists entirely of an offer for sale of up to 148.9 million equity shares, or nearly 6 per cent stake, by existing institutional shareholders, with no fresh equity issue. Based on the exchange’s unlisted market valuation of about ₹5 lakh crore, the issue size is estimated to be up to ₹30,000 crore.
The IPO is intended to enhance visibility and brand image, provide liquidity to shareholders, and create a public market for the shares in India, according to a public filing by the country’s largest stock exchange.
SBI, global investors among key sellers in mega OFS
Among the top-selling shareholders are State Bank of India, which will offload 24.75 million shares, followed by MS Strategic (Mauritius) Ltd with 16 million shares, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board with 11.87 million shares, and Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd with 11.25 million shares.
Bank of Baroda and Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. are selling nearly 11 million shares each. General Insurance Corporation of India will offload 10.66 million shares, while The New India Assurance Company will sell 10.5 million shares. National Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company will each offload 6 million shares.
NSE will receive no proceeds; LIC stays out of offer
NSE will not receive any proceeds from the offer. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the exchange’s largest shareholder, is not participating in the offer-for-sale.
Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., Citigroup Global Markets India, JM Financial and Morgan Stanley India Co. are among the list of 20 book-running lead managers for the share sale.
Regulatory nod clears path for one of India’s biggest listings
The filing follows receipt of a no-objection certificate from the markets regulator earlier this year to proceed with the IPO. The NSE board subsequently approved the IPO proposal on February 6. Since an Indian stock exchange cannot list its own shares on its own platform, NSE lists its shares on its rival exchange, BSE, which has been listed since 2017.
NSE, the world’s most active derivatives exchange, had first attempted to list back in 2016. Those plans have since held up due to regulatory action related to co-location and dark fibre.
Over the past few years, the exchange has sought to remove the regulatory overhang by settling certain cases and strengthening its governance standards. NSE is still awaiting the final settlement of the colocation and dark fibre matter, for which it has made provisions in its books of accounts.
Once SEBI reviews the draft papers and issues its observations, the exchange can proceed with the launch of the public issue, subject to market conditions. The listing is expected to be among the biggest ever by an Indian company and would finally bring the country’s largest stock exchange to the public markets after years of uncertainty.
Published on June 17, 2026
