Five public sector entities, including State Bank of India (SBI), IDBI Bank, SBI Capital Markets, IFCI and Bank of Baroda, are set to partially monetise their holdings in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) through the bourse's long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).

According to NSE's Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed with market regulator SEBI, the five government-owned entities together hold approximately 2.37 crore shares that are part of the proposed offer for sale (OFS).

Among them, IDBI Bank is the largest PSU shareholder participating in the share sale with 74.15 lakh shares, followed by SBI with 64.28 lakh shares, SBI Capital Markets with 53.62 lakh shares, IFCI with 34.32 lakh shares and Bank of Baroda with 10.98 lakh shares.

Notably, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), one of NSE's key shareholders, will not participate in the share sale. Premji Invest, which owns a 2.35% stake, and investor Radhakishan Damani, who holds 1.58%, are also retaining their holdings and will not sell shares in the IPO.

The filing moves NSE a step closer to one of the most anticipated listings in India's capital market history. With the exchange commanding an estimated valuation of around Rs 5 lakh crore in the unlisted market, the IPO is expected to be worth roughly Rs 30,000 crore, making it the biggest public offering in India.

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The proposed IPO is entirely an OFS of up to 14.89 crore equity shares with a face value of Re 1 each, representing nearly 6% of NSE's paid-up equity capital. The issue size has been fixed at 6% of the exchange's paid-up capital.

NSE's shares will be listed on BSE, mirroring the arrangement under which BSE's own shares are listed on NSE.

The IPO filing marks the culmination of a process that began in December 2016 when NSE first filed a DRHP for a Rs 10,000 crore issue. The listing plan was subsequently delayed due to the co-location controversy.

The exchange remains one of the most profitable and strategically important institutions in India's financial ecosystem. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 16,601 crore in FY26 from Rs 14,780 crore in FY24, while net profit increased to Rs 10,302 crore from Rs 8,305 crore during the same period. However, profit after tax declined 15% year on year from Rs 12,188 crore in FY25 to Rs 10,302 crore in FY26, partly reflecting the impact of SEBI's tighter regulations on equity derivatives trading.

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World’s leading equity derivatives exchange

According to the World Federation of Exchanges, NSE retained its position as the world's largest equity derivatives exchange, with more than 36.99 billion contracts traded during fiscal 2026, including activity on NSE International Exchange (NSEIX). As of March 31, 2026, it was also the largest exchange in India by cash market turnover and the third largest globally by number of trades in cash equities.

The scale of its operations is also reflected in its technology infrastructure, which processed an average of 12 to 14 billion messages daily as of March 2026. The exchange recorded its highest ever cumulative trading activity on June 4, 2024, when total trades across segments reached 293.85 million.

India's largest stock exchange by cash market turnover, equity derivatives turnover and exchange traded currency derivatives turnover, NSE has also been a strong cash generator for shareholders. The exchange paid a dividend of Rs 35 per share in both FY25 and FY26, while the FY24 dividend stood at Rs 18 per share on a bonus adjusted basis.

The IPO is being managed by 20 book running lead managers, including Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Morgan Stanley India, HSBC Securities & Capital Markets India, SBI Capital Markets, JP Morgan India, Citi Global Markets India, JM Financial, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities and HDFC Bank, among others. MUFG Intime India Private Limited has been appointed as the registrar to the issue.