After a wait of nearly a decade, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) on Wednesday filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), marking a major milestone for the country’s largest stock exchange.
The IPO will comprise up to 148.9 million equity shares, or nearly 6 per cent of NSE’s paid-up capital, with a face value of ₹1 each. The issue will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS), with no fresh issue component, meaning the exchange itself will not receive any proceeds. All funds raised will accrue to the selling shareholders.
Based on NSE’s valuation in the unlisted market, the IPO is estimated to exceed ₹30,000 crore, potentially making it the largest public issue in India’s history. In comparison, Hyundai Motor India raised nearly ₹28,000 crore through its IPO in 2024.
The selling shareholders include State Bank of India, MS Strategic (Mauritius), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India and several general insurance companies.
However, the exchange’s largest shareholder, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), will not dilute its stake through the offer.
NSE had received a no-objection certificate from Sebi earlier this year, enabling it to proceed with the DRHP filing. As a regulated market infrastructure institution, the exchange was required to obtain approval from its regulator before launching the IPO process.
The exchange had first filed draft IPO papers with Sebi in 2016. However, the listing plans were put on hold amid investigations and regulatory proceedings, including matters related to colocation and dark fibre access.
Over the past few years, NSE has worked to address the regulatory overhang by settling several cases and strengthening governance processes. In the DRHP, the exchange said its revised settlement applications in the colocation and dark fibre matters were filed with Sebi in March 2026 and remain pending as of the date of filing.
Once approved, NSE shares will be listed and traded on rival exchange BSE. BSE, in contrast, was listed on NSE in 2017.
In March, NSE appointed a record 20 merchant bankers for the IPO. The syndicate includes Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets, Nuvama Wealth Management, Avendus Capital, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and JPMorgan, among others. The exchange also mandated mid-sized investment banks such as Anand Rathi Advisors, DAM Capital Advisors, Pantomath Capital Advisors and Equirus Capital.
NSE has also appointed eight legal advisers for the issue, including Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co, AZB & Partners, S&R Associates, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Trilegal.
Financially, NSE continued to post robust growth in FY26. The exchange reported a consolidated net profit of ₹2,871 crore in the January-March quarter, up 8.3 per cent year-on-year. Consolidated revenue from operations rose to ₹4,967.6 crore from ₹3,771.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
