Business & Finance

SEBI Clears NSE's ₹30,000 Crore IPO, Boosting Shares of SBI, Bank of Baroda, GIC Re and IFCI

By Upstox

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI), New India Assurance (NIACL), Bank of Baroda, GIC Re and IFCI drew investor attention on Monday, September 7, after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved the National Stock Exchange's (NSE) long-anticipated initial public offering (IPO).

The proposed ₹30,000 crore issue, structured entirely as an offer-for-sale (OFS), will allow existing shareholders to monetise their holdings. SBI, the largest listed selling shareholder, plans to offload around 2.47 crore NSE shares. NIACL and GIC Re are expected to sell nearly 1.05 crore and 1.1 crore shares, respectively, while Bank of Baroda is set to divest up to approximately 1.1 crore shares. IFCI holds indirect exposure to NSE through its 52.8% stake in Stock Holding Corporation of India, which in turn owns about 4.4% of the exchange.

The IPO is expected to unlock significant value for these shareholders, particularly SBI and the public-sector insurers, given their historically low acquisition costs for their NSE stakes.

By 11:17 AM, IFCI shares were up 1.61% at ₹103.01 on the NSE, having gained more than 16% over the past five sessions, over 39% in the past month, 98% over six months, and 94% year-to-date in 2026. In contrast, SBI shares fell over 1% to ₹1,004.60, GIC Re shares dropped more than 2% to ₹350.35, and New India Assurance shares slipped 1.25% to ₹227.03.

SEBI's observation letter, issued Friday according to an update on the regulator's website, effectively clears the world's largest derivatives exchange to proceed with its public listing. The offering comprises 14.89 crore shares and is expected to rival Jio Platforms Ltd's anticipated IPO—estimated at ₹37,700 crore, though its timing remains unannounced—for the title of India's largest-ever public offering.

If completed as planned, the NSE IPO would surpass Hyundai Motor India's ₹27,858.75 crore listing in 2024 and LIC of India's ₹20,557.23 crore offering in 2022. It would also exceed Paytm parent One97 Communications' ₹18,300 crore IPO in 2021, Tata Capital's ₹15,511.87 crore listing in 2025, and Coal India's ₹15,200 crore offering in 2010.

According to a PTI report citing sources, NSE is expected to announce the IPO's price band and other details next week, with the public issue likely opening on September 15 and listing targeted for September 24-25—ahead of the Pitru Paksha period beginning September 26.

The IPO, delayed by nearly a decade due to regulatory hurdles, is expected to place NSE among India's ten most valuable companies by market capitalisation.

Separately, NSE reported a 7% year-on-year rise in consolidated profit after tax to ₹3,120 crore for the June quarter of FY27, up from ₹2,924 crore in the same period last year, driven by higher operating income. Total income rose 9% to ₹5,252 crore from ₹4,798 crore a year earlier. Revenue from transaction charges, the exchange's largest income source, increased to ₹3,623 crore from ₹3,154 crore. Data connectivity charges contributed ₹258 crore, operating investment income stood at ₹234 crore, and data feed and terminal services generated ₹150 crore.

Total expenses for the quarter rose to ₹1,129 crore from ₹1,053 crore in the year-ago period. NSE also contributed ₹20,579 crore to the exchequer during the quarter, comprising ₹18,313 crore in Securities Transaction Tax/Commodities Transaction Tax, ₹980 crore in stamp duty, ₹657 crore in GST, ₹373 crore in income tax, and ₹256 crore in SEBI fees. Of the total STT/CTT collections, the equity derivatives segment accounted for 57%, the cash market delivery-based segment for 37%, and the cash market intraday segment for 6%.