NSE Fixes IPO Price Band at ₹1,700–₹1,785 for ₹22,562 Crore Public Issue Opening September 17

The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has announced the price band and official schedule for its landmark initial public offering (IPO). The bourse has fixed the price band at ₹1,700 to ₹1,785 per equity share of face value ₹1 each. The issue is scheduled to open for public subscription on Thursday, September 17, 2026, and close on Monday, September 21, 2026. Bidding for anchor investors will take place a day earlier, on September 16.

At the upper price band of ₹1,785, the public issue will raise approximately ₹22,562 crore, valuing the country's premier bourse at roughly ₹4.42 lakh crore ($46 billion). This cements the NSE IPO as India's second-largest initial public offering in history, trailing only Hyundai Motor India’s ₹27,870-crore issue in 2024 and surpassing the ₹21,000-crore offering by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in 2022.

Issue Structure and Selling Shareholders

The offering is structured entirely as an Offer for Sale (OFS) of up to 12.64 crore (126,436,650) equity shares by existing institutional investors. Because there is no fresh issuance of shares, all net proceeds will flow directly to the selling shareholders, and the exchange itself will not receive any capital from the transaction.

The selling shareholder cohort consists of 10 key institutional investors:

• State Bank of India (SBI)
• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)
• Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd (Temasek)
• MS Strategic (Mauritius) Ltd
• Bank of Baroda
• The New India Assurance Company
• SBI Capital Markets
• Stock Holding Corporation of India
• General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re)
• United India Insurance Company

The aggregate OFS size was trimmed by about 15% from the previously planned 14.9 crore shares after several major stakeholders, including SBI, moderated their proposed stake sale quantities.

Bidding Details and Reservation Quotas

Investors can bid for a minimum of eight equity shares and in multiples of eight shares thereafter. At the cut-off price, retail individual bidders will need an application amount of ₹14,280 for a single lot.

Quota Allocations:

• Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs): Not more than 50% of the net offer.
• Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs): Not less than 15% of the offer.
• Retail Individual Investors (RIIs): Not less than 35% of the offer.

The exchange has also set aside an employee reservation portion aggregating up to ₹70 crore, offering eligible staff members a discount of ₹170 per equity share.

Cross-Listing on the BSE

Because market regulations prohibit an exchange from trading its own securities on its own trading platform without specific regulatory exemptions, NSE Managing Director and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan confirmed that the exchange will list its equity shares exclusively on the BSE. This mirrors the arrangement of BSE, which went public earlier and listed on the NSE.

The basis of share allotment is expected to be finalized around September 22, 2026, followed by the trading debut on the BSE on September 24, 2026.

Valuation and Market Context

The price band of ₹1,700–₹1,785 has been structured to leave upside for incoming public market participants. In the grey and unlisted share markets, NSE shares were actively changing hands at around ₹1,990 prior to the announcement, having corrected from historic highs of ₹2,400 touched in mid-2025. At the upper end of the price band, the exchange commands a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of approximately 40.85 times its diluted FY26 earnings, backed by its near-monopoly cash market volume share of roughly 95% and its global leadership in equity derivatives turnover.

Tags: National Stock Exchange BSE SEBI State Bank of India IPO Capital Markets