The National Stock Exchange of India has completed the ₹1,491.21 crore settlement of its long-pending co-location and dark-fibre cases by paying the remaining ₹714.74 crore to SEBI on Friday. According to The Financial Express, NSE made the payment after receiving SEBI's in-principle acceptance of the revised settlement terms, with the exchange stating that the deposit of ₹776.47 crore along with the payment of ₹714.74 crore will be adjusted against the settlement amount of ₹1,491.21 crore. The settlement amount is in addition to the ₹776.47 crore already deposited by NSE, which will be adjusted against the total settlement amount. The exchange's board had previously approved the payment of ₹714.74 crore as per the terms in its meeting on Thursday, with the payment coming a day after SEBI gave its in-principle approval to the revised settlement proposal submitted by the exchange. The settlement pertains to allegations that certain brokers received preferential server access at NSE between 2015 and 2016, with the exchange having filed two separate settlement applications for ₹1,387.39 crore in June 2025 under the Settlement Regulations, which were subsequently revised to ₹1,491.21 crore on March 13, 2026.
The National Stock Exchange is expected to get listed on the BSE by September 2026, with SEBI likely to approve its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) by mid-August 2026. According to NDTV Profit, international roadshows are currently underway for the issue, and NSE is also engaging domestic institutional investors as part of the IPO outreach. The roadshows are expected to gauge investor demand and support price discovery ahead of the proposed share sale. However, the final issue size, valuation and listing timeline remain subject to market conditions and investor feedback received during the roadshows. Once SEBI passes the settlement order, the cases pending before the Supreme Court will be withdrawn, clearing the last major regulatory obstacle for the exchange's stock market debut. The settlement brings to an end a near-decade-long legal battle that restrained the country's largest stock exchange from a stock market listing.
The National Stock Exchange has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for a proposed ₹30,000-crore initial public offering. The IPO is structured entirely as an Offer for Sale (OFS) and is expected to become the largest public issue in India's capital markets. The exchange is planning to raise over ₹26,000 crore this year through the IPO, with the issue comprising the sale of up to 148.9 million equity shares of face value ₹1 each, representing nearly 6 per cent of NSE's paid-up equity capital. Based on indicative grey market prices of around ₹2,000 a share, the issue could raise about ₹29,780 crore (more than $3 billion) and value NSE at over ₹5 trillion. At that size, the offering would surpass the ₹27,859-crore initial public offering of Hyundai Motor India Ltd and the ₹20,557-crore listing of Life Insurance Corp. of India to become the largest IPO in India's history. Since the offering is a pure OFS, the exchange will not receive any proceeds from the issue, with all sale proceeds accruing to the existing shareholders.
The exchange reported strong financial performance in Q1FY27, with consolidated net profit rising to ₹3,120 crore in the quarter ended June 2026, up from ₹2,923.85 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations increased to ₹4,560 crore in Q1FY27, up from ₹4,032 crore a year ago, though it declined by 8 per cent on a sequential basis. NSE's contribution to the exchequer in Q1FY27 was ₹20,579 crore, comprising STT/CTT of ₹18,313 crore, stamp duty of ₹980 crore, GST of ₹657 crore, income tax of ₹373 crore, and SEBI fees of ₹256 crore. The financial impact for the settlement amount of ₹1,491.21 crore has already been provided for in the financial year ended March 31, 2026, though the cash outflow towards the settlement will be ₹714.74 crore.
The exchange has flagged its significant dependence on trading volumes, particularly in the options segment, as a key risk in its IPO papers. As reported by Zee News, transaction charges contributed more than 78 per cent of the exchange's operational revenue in FY26, FY25 and FY24. Within this revenue stream, the options segment accounted for over 60 per cent of operational revenue in FY26. The exchange cautioned that any sustained decline in trading volumes could materially impact its revenue and business performance, with any inability to sustain or increase trading activity potentially affecting its market share, revenue, financial performance and future growth prospects.
