NSE files DRHP for ₹30,000 crore offer-for-sale

The National Stock Exchange of India has filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering structured as a pure offer-for-sale of about ₹30,000 crore. The offer covers up to 148.9 million shares, around 6% of paid-up equity, and involves only existing shares; there is no fresh issue and the exchange will not receive proceeds.

The filing follows SEBI’s no-objection certificate in January and the NSE board’s approval in February for the offer-for-sale route. Market participants expect regulatory approvals and suitable market conditions could allow the listing to conclude before the end of 2026.

State Bank of India is slated to be the largest seller, offering about 2.48 crore shares. Other proposed sellers include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Aranda Investments (linked to Temasek), Bank of Baroda, General Insurance Corporation of India, The New India Assurance Company, National Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company. Life Insurance Corporation, Premji Invest and investor Radhakishan Damani are not among the proposed sellers.

The exchange plans to list its shares only on BSE, since an exchange cannot list on its own platform. In unlisted trades, NSE has been valued close to ₹5 lakh crore, or more than $58 billion, a level that would place it among India’s largest listed companies.

NSE runs about 93% of India’s cash equity market, holds near-total control of equity futures and a leading position in equity options. A valuation report included figures showing a PAT margin of 62.9%, an EBITDA margin of 76.5% and a zero-debt balance sheet.

Reliance Jio Infocomm is preparing draft IPO papers for an offering of roughly $4 billion, with filings expected within days and possibly ahead of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s annual shareholder meeting on June 19.

NSE first attempted to list in 2016, but that process stalled after regulatory scrutiny related to a co-location controversy. The current filing resumes the exchange’s effort to list after nearly a decade.

Sarvam Goel, founder of Pocketful, noted that the listing could place NSE among India’s 10 most valuable listed companies and cautioned that optimism in unlisted prices is already reflected in current implied values. He added that large IPOs often price below unlisted levels to allow room for listing gains and suggested a level near ₹1,600 per share could offer a more balanced entry point for investors.