10 years on, NSE files IPO document with SEBI, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has filed draft papers for a mega Initial Public Offering (IPO) after nearly a decade of regulatory delays.
• The IPO is structured as an Offer for Sale (OFS), with existing shareholders offloading their stakes.
• Market estimates suggest the IPO size could range from Rs 17,000-20,000 crore, with some estimates going up to Rs 25,000-30,000 crore.
• The public listing was previously stalled due to an ongoing regulatory inquiry by SEBI concerning the co-location case.
• NSE filed a settlement application with SEBI in June 2025, agreeing to pay around Rs 1,400 crore for the co-location and dark fibre cases.

Detailed Insights:

• The NSE first attempted to list in 2016 but faced delays due to allegations of preferential access provided to certain brokers through its co-location facility.
• The co-location case involved accusations of early login and use of 'dark fibre' by some traders, providing a split-second advantage in executing orders.
• The allegations were initially raised by a whistleblower in January 2015, leading to a prolonged investigation by SEBI.
• In January 2026, the SEBI Chairman confirmed an in-principle agreement to the settlement applications filed by NSE regarding these matters.
• Major shareholders participating in the OFS include State Bank of India, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and various public sector insurance companies.
• The IPO will utilize the book-building process, allocating specific percentages of the net offer to qualified institutional buyers, non-institutional bidders, and retail bidders.
• NSE reported a revenue from operations of Rs 16,601 crore and a net profit of Rs 10,302 crore during FY26.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Initial Public Offering (IPO): The process by which a private company offers its shares to the public for the first time.
• Offer for Sale (OFS): A mechanism in an IPO where existing shareholders sell their shares, and the company does not receive any proceeds.
• Book-building process: A method of price discovery for an IPO where bids are collected from investors at various prices within a specified range.
• Co-location facility: A service offered by stock exchanges allowing brokers to place their servers within the exchange's data center for faster trade execution.
• Dark Fibre: Unused optical fibre cables that can be leased to provide high-speed, dedicated data transmission between two points.