NSE IPO: Board to meet on Friday, February 6, to constitute IPO panel; details you must know

During the meeting, the board is expected to constitute a specialised IPO committee to serve as the central authority for the listing, PTI reported on Wednesday, citing market sources.

This committee will be tasked with defining listing procedures and establishing the criteria for appointing the merchant bankers and legal advisors required to draft the Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP), they added.

Additionally, the board will review and approve the exchange's unaudited financial results for the quarter and nine-month period ending December 2025.

NSE IPO plans: A brief history

Last Friday, SEBI granted a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the NSE to move ahead with its IPO after a decade of delays over regulatory concerns and co-location controversy.

The country's largest bourse, NSE's listing plans, remained on hold since 2016, when the exchange first filed draft offer documents to raise around ₹10,000 crore through an offer for sale by existing shareholders.

SEBI, however, withheld approval due to regulatory concerns arising from governance lapses and the co-location case. Since then, NSE has approached the regulator multiple times seeking clearance.

Last month, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator granted "in-principle" approval to NSE's settlement application in the unfair market access case, an important development seen as paving the way for the exchange's IPO.

Pandey also indicated that the NOC could be issued within about a month.

NSE filed its settlement plea in June 2025. The exchange's IPO plans were stalled due to the co-location case, in which certain brokers were accused of receiving preferential access to the exchange's trading systems.

After years of litigation, NSE in 2025 offered to pay ₹1,388 crore to settle the charges and move ahead with the listing process.

NSE IPO: What we know so far

The proposed IPO is expected to be among the largest in India's capital markets.

NSE, which has about 1.77 lakh shareholders, is valued at over ₹5 lakh crore in the grey market, analysts believe.

NSE Managing Director and Chief Executive Ashish Kumar Chauhan had earlier described the in-principle approval as a positive signal, though he said no formal communication had been received at the time.

"Once we receive the NOC, we will follow the conditions mentioned in the intimation and begin preparations for filing the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP)," Chauhan had told PTI Videos.

He had stated that it could take up to four months after receiving SEBI's NOC to file the DRHP, which would then require regulatory clearance.

The IPO could reach the markets seven to eight months after the NOC, he said.

In March 2025, SEBI constituted an internal committee to examine NSE's listing proposal.

NSE Q2 FY26 Results

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a 33% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) to ₹2,098 crore for the September quarter (Q2 FY26).

It had posted a PAT of ₹3,137 crore in the same quarter last year.

Excluding a provision of ₹1,297 crore made towards the settlement applications filed with the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) under the Settlement Regulations, the exchange's adjusted PAT stood at ₹3,396 crore, marking a 16% sequential rise, NSE said in a statement.

"NSE has recognised a provision of ₹1,297 crore in Q2 FY26, including interest, towards the settlement applications that NSE had filed with SEBI under SEBI (Settlement Regulations) 2018 with respect to colocation and dark fibre matters. Revert from SEBI on the above-mentioned applications is awaited, of which the future outcome is uncertain at this stage, the exchange said.

The exchange's consolidated total income for the quarter under review fell 17% year-on-year to ₹4,160 crore from ₹5,023 crore in the corresponding period of FY25.

During the first half of FY26, NSE's contribution to the exchequer stood at ₹28,308 crore, comprising STT (Securities Transaction Tax)/CTT (Commodities Transaction Tax) of ₹23,451 crore, stamp duty of ₹1,651 crore, SEBI fees of ₹496 crore, income tax of ₹1,809 crore, and GST of ₹901 crore.