The National Stock Exchange IPO received 22% subscription in early hours on Day 1, with bids received for 1,16,62,424 shares against 8,86,42,911 shares on offer. According to The Economic Times, the retail portion saw 24% subscription against 4.41 crore shares reserved, while non-institutional investors led with 30% subscription against 1.89 crore shares and qualified institutional buyers subscribed 11% against 2.52 crore shares. This represents an improvement from the 0.09x subscription rate recorded at 10:20 AM, indicating growing investor interest throughout the day. The grey market premium has declined to ₹160-170 per share, suggesting a potential listing gain of nearly 8% as of morning trading on September 17, though these GMP rates remain speculative and do not guarantee actual listing performance.
NSE's $2.3 billion IPO has attracted major global investors, with the stock exchange operator allotting shares worth $703.04 million to marquee global and domestic investors on Wednesday. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the anchor book allocation includes sovereign wealth funds of Norway and Abu Dhabi, highlighting strong international confidence in India's capital markets. The company raised ₹6,746.2 crore from several marquee domestic and global investors on September 16, with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) emerging as the largest player. The $2.3 billion IPO is one of India's biggest-ever IPOs and comes at a time when the primary market is attracting major issuers, including billionaire Mukesh Ambani-backed Jio Platforms, which is expected to list by year-end. The IPO represents NSE's float would cap a decade-long effort in which regulatory scrutiny and legacy legal issues repeatedly delayed its listing.
The NIFTY CAPITAL MARKETS index was trading over 1% higher at 5,275.30 levels, with 14 out of 17 constituents trading in the green as investors assess the sector against NSE's scale and strong institutional demand. BSE shares were up over 1.21% at ₹3,279.30, while Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) was up 2.27% at ₹3,284. Central Depository Services (India) Ltd shares were trading at ₹1,348.00 apiece, up 3.77%, and Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) shares were up 1.27% at ₹714.65. HDFC Asset Management Company shares were up 1% at ₹2,397.10. The broader gains appear to be a capital-markets theme trade around the NSE IPO, rather than a direct fundamental change for every company, as reported by The Hindu BusinessLine.
The IPO is entirely an offer for sale with no fresh capital to NSE, meaning proceeds will go to existing selling shareholders. According to CNBC TV18, QIBs can receive up to 50% of the net offer, Retail Individual Bidders have at least 35% reserved, and Non-Institutional Bidders will get at least 15%. The face value of each NSE equity share is ₹1, with the company having 2.475 billion paid-up equity shares both before and after the offer. The price band for the offer has been fixed at ₹1,700-1,785 per share, which will command a market capitalisation of around ₹4.41 lakh crore. The exchange has fixed the lot size at eight shares, with retail investors required to make a minimum investment of ₹14,280 at the upper end of the price band to bid for one lot. The IPO share allotment is likely to be finalised on September 22, while the shares are expected to be available for trading on BSE from September 24.
YES Securities has recommended "Subscribe", noting that NSE is available at a 21% discount to BSE on P/E. The brokerage said BSE trades at 54.3 times FY26 diluted earnings, while NSE is priced at 42.9 times at the cap price. For long-term investors, analysts say NSE offers a rare chance to own India's dominant market infrastructure company. At 42.9 times FY26 earnings, the IPO is not cheap, but its strong margins, debt-free balance sheet, market leadership and rising investor base support the long-term case. Angel One highlighted that NSE's valuation at ₹1,785 translates to a post-issue P/E of 35.4x, lower than BSE's 54.2x, making the issue attractive relative to its key peer. Key risks include dependence on derivatives with options transaction fees contributing significantly to revenue, technology infrastructure vulnerabilities, and regulatory changes affecting trading products.
NSE demonstrated exceptional financial performance in FY26, generating ₹16,601 crore of revenue and ₹12,657 crore of adjusted EBITDA, giving it a 76% adjusted EBITDA margin. Net Profit after Tax (PAT) stood at ₹10,302 crore, a margin of roughly 62%, representing very high profitability levels for a business. The exchange maintains zero debt on FY26 numbers and limited structural working-capital requirements, making it a relatively asset-light business model. SBI Securities pegged NSE's EBITDA margin at 67.6% in FY26 and 77.9% in Q1, while PAT margin stood at 62.1% in FY26 and 68.4% in Q1. NSE is India's largest stock exchange in terms of total turnover across key asset classes, with a 93.05% market share in the cash market, 99.72% in equity futures, 68.48% in equity options, 100% in exchange-traded currency futures and 100% in exchange-traded currency options based on total premium turnover as of June 2026. The valuation sought by the exchange will likely see it enter the list of top 15 companies in terms of market capitalisation.
