Mumbai: The NSE IPO has moved a step closer to the market after the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The proposed issue is expected to raise around ₹30,000 crore, potentially making the NSE IPO one of the largest public offerings in the history of India’s capital markets.
According to the DRHP, the IPO, with a face value of ₹1 per equity share, is entirely an offer-for-sale (OFS) comprising up to 148,905,525 equity shares by existing shareholders.
The selling shareholders include State Bank of India, MS Strategic (Mauritius) Ltd, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd, Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited, General Insurance Corporation of India Limited, The New India Assurance Company Ltd, National Insurance Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited.
The NSE IPO will be conducted through the book-building process. Under the proposed allocation structure, not more than 50% of the net offer will be available for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), while not less than 15% and 35% of the net offer will be allocated to non-institutional bidders and retail investors, respectively.
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Incorporated in 1992, NSE has emerged as India’s largest stock exchange in terms of total turnover in the cash market and equity derivatives segment.
According to the Redseer report cited in the DRHP, NSE remained the largest stock exchange in India based on total turnover in the cash market and equity derivatives from FY2001 to FY2026.
It also held the leading position in exchange-traded currency derivatives, based on notional turnover of currency options, from FY2009 to FY2026.
The NSE IPO comes at a time when the exchange continues to strengthen its position globally.
As per data from the World Federation of Exchanges, NSE retained its ranking as the world’s largest equity derivatives exchange in FY2026, recording more than 36.99 billion contracts traded during the year.
The exchange was also the largest in India by total turnover in the cash market and ranked as the third-largest exchange globally by the number of trades in cash equities, according to the World Federation of Exchanges.
A key strength highlighted in the DRHP for the NSE IPO is the exchange’s proprietary technology infrastructure.
NSE stated that its technology ecosystem supports high-speed and high-frequency transactions while ensuring uninterrupted market operations and comprehensive market data dissemination.
The exchange has witnessed significant growth in investor participation over the years. Its Unique Registered Investors base increased at a compounded annual growth rate of 26.9%, rising from 30.87 million as of March 31, 2020, to 129.1 million as of March 31, 2026. This expanding investor base is another factor expected to attract attention towards the NSE IPO.
During FY2026, a total fund mobilisation of ₹20.3 trillion was achieved through the NSE platform. Investors using the exchange were spread across more than 99% of Indian postal codes as of March 31, 2026, reflecting the growing reach of capital market participation across the country.
NSE also continues to scale its technological capabilities to meet evolving investor and market requirements. As of March 31, 2026, the exchange’s platform processed an average of 12 billion to 14 billion messages every day.
The exchange reported its highest-ever cumulative trading activity on June 4, 2024, when the total number of trades across all segments reached 293.85 million, marking the highest cumulative trading volume recorded by the platform to date.
Financially, the exchange reported strong growth ahead of the NSE IPO. Revenue from operations stood at ₹16,601 crore in FY2026, compared with ₹14,780 crore in FY2024. Net profit increased to ₹10,302 crore in FY2026 from ₹8,305 crore in FY2024.
With its proposed ₹30,000 crore offer-for-sale, strong financial performance, extensive investor reach and dominant position in domestic and global derivatives markets, the NSE IPO is expected to be among the most closely watched public issues in India’s capital market history.
