NSE's unlisted shares back in focus as Sebi chief says IPO nod likely by month-end

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said at a market convention in Chennai on Saturday that its no-objection certificate (NoC) for the initial public offering (IPO) would likely be given to NSE by the end of the month. After the NoC is received, NSE will have to prepare its offer document, which will be submitted to Sebi for its approval. A Sebi NoC is mandatory for every market infrastructure institution that wishes to list.

The NoC has been pending for the country's largest bourse after the regulator permitted NSE to expedite the process of share transfer between investors in March last year. It had raised expectations among investors that the NoC would be granted in a matter of months.

The price of NSE's unlisted share, which had surged to ₹2,375-2,400 by June from around ₹1,550 at the end of March, fell thereafter and lingered around ₹1,875-1,950 until the Sebi chief's comments over the weekend.

Following his comments, the price in the unofficial market rose to around ₹2,050, according to market intermediaries who observe the unlisted space.

"The price currently stands at around ₹2,050 per share, according to information from sources within the unlisted market," said Narinder Wadhwa, founder of SKI Capital Services. "Activity on the counter is likely to increase with the NoC expected by this month end or so."

Ashish Nanda, president and chief business development officer at Kotak Securities, agreed. “The unlisted space, which had turned silent for the past many months, will probably see some revival, thanks to the Sebi chief comments on the IPO approval for NSE."

"The rub-off effect could also be felt on other capital market related themes in the unlisted space," Nanda added.

In what is likely to be one of the largest initial public offerings in the history of Indian stock markets, NSE’s IPO is being closely watched by both retail and institutional investors. Individual investors have been among the biggest buyers in the recent past.

Apart from NSE, other stock exchanges trading in the unlisted market include agri derivatives bourse NCDEX and MSEI, which at present offers currency derivatives trading. Both bourses are gearing up for an equity segment launch.

"It's possible that NSE could re-test its highs of ₹2,375-2,400 after the latest development," said a broker on the condition of anonymity. He said interest on the counter had spurted between March and July-August last year. However, after that and until now, it had seen fewer deals ahead of reduced visibility on the IPO process.

Retail investors’ shareholding on the bourse rose to 12.12% in Q3FY26 from 9.89% in Q4FY25, according to exchange data. The increase came largely at the expense of foreign strategic and portfolio investors, whose combined holding fell to 26.81% from 28%, and corporates, whose stake declined to 9.82% from 10.27% over the same period.

NSE officials were not immediately available to comment on the development, but a person aware of the process said that the shares of the bourse could be listed by August-September if the clearance was received by the month-end.

“We are gearing up for formal presentations by February, post which it wouldn’t take more than two months for a draft document to be filed," an investment banker said.

After getting the clearance, NSE will have to appoint merchant bankers and lawyers to vet the offer documents and make any changes before submitting it to its board of directors for approval and then to the regulator.

The offering could be at a valuation or ₹7 trillion, a premium to the current valuation of around ₹5.07 trillion, Mint had reported last year.

The exchange, with a ₹5.07 trillion market capitalization, is five times the size of rival BSE, whose market value is at ₹1.09 trillion.

NSE's IPO has been hanging fire for almost nine years, pending regulatory investigations into acts of alleged malfeasance by its former management.
The bourse recognized a provision of ₹1,297 crore in the September quarter of the current fiscal towards settlement applications filed with Sebi with respect to the colocation and dark fibre matters.