India's NSE lists after decade-long wait; valued at $47 billion

The National Stock Exchange of India closed 1.85% higher on its market debut on Thursday, ending a decade-long effort to list and becoming one of the world’s 10 most valuable publicly traded bourses.

The stock rose as much as 5% during the day. It closed at 1,818 rupees, valuing India’s largest bourse at 4.5 trillion rupees ($46.90 billion).

The 225.6 billion rupee ($2.3 billion) IPO is India’s second-largest on record, after Hyundai Motor India’s 2024 offering.

“NSE’s listing has been in line with expectations. Investors will now focus on where NSE can generate incremental growth from. It has come from growing derivatives activity in the last four years, but that segment has moderated now,” said Vipul ​Bhowar, executive director and ⁠head of equities at Waterfield Advisors in Mumbai.

Biggest Indian trading exchange

NSE dominates India’s equity markets, with a 93% share of cash trading and nearly 75% of options. Derivatives transaction charges accounted for about 68% of operating revenue in the June quarter.

However, derivatives activity has slowed since 2024 as tighter regulation, higher taxes and concerns over the closing auction raise questions about NSE’s reliance on the segment for earnings growth.

Rival BSE formerly the Bombay Stock Exchange, which listed in 2017, trades at a valuation of 1.3 trillion Indian rupees ($13.55 billion).

BSE trades at 47 times trailing earnings, compared with NSE’s IPO valuation of 43 times fiscal 2026 earnings, LSEG data showed.

“That gap largely reflects BSE’s much smaller earnings base, which naturally produces a steeper growth rate, even though NSE remains the far larger, dominant player in the exchange space,” said Vijay Sarda, CIO - equity at Systematix Wealth & Assets Services.

It also indicates discomfort over NSE’s higher dependency on derivatives activity for generating revenue, analysts said.

Tighter regulation of derivatives trading and declining volumes had prompted NSE to reduce the size of the offering and lower its IPO price. The issue was entirely an offer for sale, with NSE raising no new capital.

Brokerage firm Macquarie initiated coverage on NSE with an “outperform” rating, and said potential for re-rating could come from traction in new products.

NSE’s IPO was subscribed 5.7 times, though retail investors bid for only slightly more shares than were available to them.

The debut follows strong listings by some recent large IPOs of LG Electronics India and HDB Financial Services. Jio Platforms is also expected to list later this year.

“India’s primary market has been vibrant for the last few years, and NSE’s listing is a testament to its ability to absorb large offerings. It also shows investors’ willingness to look at new themes, including platform-based companies,” Bhowar said.

Domestic IPOs have raised $9.9 billion from more than 190 deals so far in 2026, down 0.9% from a year earlier, LSEG data showed.