Business & Finance
Sebi Approves NSE's Rs 30,000 Crore IPO After Nearly a Decade of Delays
India's securities regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has granted final approval for the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to proceed with its initial public offering, ending a regulatory delay that lasted nearly ten years. According to a regulatory update, NSE received Sebi's final observations on September 4, following the submission of draft papers in June. This approval marks a critical step that allows the exchange to move forward with its public listing process, subject to further regulatory requirements. Industry sources cited by news agency PTI estimate the IPO could be valued at approximately Rs 30,000 crore, potentially making it the largest public offering in the history of the Indian stock market. The offering will consist entirely of an offer for sale of 14.89 crore shares, with existing shareholders collectively divesting nearly 6% of their stake in NSE. Notably, the exchange itself will not receive any funds from this transaction. Among the shareholders selling their stakes, the State Bank of India plans to offload up to 2.48 crore shares, while MS Strategic (Mauritius) Limited will sell 1.60 crore shares. Sources indicate that the proposed IPO size could suggest a market capitalisation exceeding Rs 5 lakh crore for NSE. If realized, this offering would surpass the previous record set by Hyundai Motor India's Rs 27,870 crore IPO in October 2024. Reuters reports that NSE's valuation in the unlisted market is around $55 billion, potentially ranking it among the top ten most valuable companies in India by market capitalisation. The journey to this IPO has been long, with NSE having filed its draft red herring prospectus with Sebi on June 17, reactivating a listing plan that had stalled since 2016 due to regulatory scrutiny and unresolved legal issues. Previous investigations into NSE's co-location and dark-fibre facilities, among other regulatory challenges, hindered the exchange's plans to go public. Reuters noted that NSE's recent settlement of past compliance issues with Sebi played a crucial role in clearing the path for the IPO. As a leader in India's equity derivatives market, NSE is recognized as the world's most active exchange for derivatives trading and is responsible for operating the benchmark Nifty 50 index. In contrast, its competitor, BSE, went public in 2017, and its shares have since increased 28-fold.