Nearly ten years after its first attempt fell apart, National Stock Exchange (NSE) has finally filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), setting the stage for what could be the largest initial public offering (IPO) in Indian history.
The proposed issue is estimated to be around ₹30,000 crore, comprising up to 148.9 million equity shares which is roughly 6% of NSE’s paid-up capital. At that immense size, it would comfortably eclipse the current record holder Hyundai Motor India’s ₹27,870 crore offering.
The IPO is structured entirely as an offer for sale (OFS), without a fresh issue component, meaning NSE itself doesn’t receive a single rupee and every bit of the proceeds goes to the selling shareholders. This OFS covers up to 148,905,525 equity shares, SBI leads the selling list with 24.75 million shares followed by MS Strategic (Mauritius) Limited selling 16 million shares, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board selling 11.87 million shares, Bank of Baroda and Stock Holding Corporation of India selling close to 11 million shares each. General Insurance Corporation of India is selling around 10.65 million shares, while New India Assurance, National Insurance, and United India Insurance are also partially exiting. Notably, LIC holds a stake but will not be participating in this round.
The deal is being managed by a syndicate of 20 book-running lead managers, including Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, HSBC, Citi, SBI Capital Markets, Axis Capital and ICICI Securities. It is the largest banker consortium that has ever been assembled for an Indian IPO.
Financially, NSE is on solid ground. Revenue from operations rose to ₹16,601 crore in FY26 from ₹14,780 crore in FY24, and net profit climbed to ₹10,302 crore from ₹8,305 crore over the same period, though profit after tax dipped 15% year-on-year from FY25’s ₹12,188 crore, partly because of SEBI’s tighter regulations on equity derivatives trading.
On the global stage, NSE has been the world’s largest derivatives exchange by contracts traded for seven straight years, holding a 51.18% share in equity derivatives and 11.38% in cash equity trades as of March 2026.
The road here wasn’t easy. NSE first attempted an IPO back in 2016 but was forced to withdraw after SEBI raised governance concerns over the infamous co-location controversy, allegations that select brokers received unfair access to its trading systems. The process regained momentum only after NSE secured a SEBI No Objection Certificate in January 2026, settled the long-running dispute at ₹1,388 crore, and got board approval in February. Crucially, SEBI’s clearance was delinked from pending co-location proceedings, letting the exchange move forward regardless.
With the DRHP now under SEBI review, India’s most watched listing in years is finally in motion. 
