The National Stock Exchange of India's $2.3 billion IPO has attracted overwhelming investor interest, with total bids exceeding $10 billion. The offering was 5.7 times over-subscribed by the end of bidding on Monday, September 21, driven by robust demand from institutional and high-net-worth investors. This strong performance positions the NSE IPO as India's biggest listing this year and the second-largest ever, following Hyundai Motor India's $3.3 billion offering in 2024. The issue received bids for 505.81 million shares against 88.64 million shares on offer.
Institutional investors showed particularly strong interest, subscribing 12.68 times the shares set aside for them, while non-institutional and retail portions were subscribed 6.55 times and 1.39 times, respectively. Prior to the public bidding, the company raised 67.5 billion rupees ($704 million) from anchor investors including the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and India's top life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). LIC was the largest anchor investor, allocating 450 crore rupees. Foreign Portfolio Investors accounted for 43% of the anchor book, or approximately 2,883 crore rupees, while domestic investors received around 3,588 crore rupees, or 57%.
Despite a hefty price-to-earnings ratio of 42.9 times based on earnings for the year ended March 2026, the NSE IPO's valuation is significantly higher than US stock exchange companies like Nasdaq (23.6 times) and Intercontinental Exchange (21.9 times). Indian brokerage Geojit Financial Services noted NSE's "asset-light business model enables consistently high margins and cash generation." NSE dominates the Indian market, holding a 93% share of the cash market, nearly 100% of equity futures trading, and 75% of equity options trading. Trading of NSE shares is scheduled to commence on Thursday, September 24. Some analysts anticipate a modest listing pop of 2% to 5% based on grey market premiums, with some suggesting a post-listing dip could be a buying opportunity.
