The National Stock Exchange’s long-awaited stock market debut has immediately placed it among India’s most valuable listed companies, underlining the scale of the country’s largest equities and derivatives platform.
NSE shares listed on the BSE at ₹1,800 on September 24, only marginally above the IPO price of ₹1,785. However, buying interest picked up after the opening, pushing the stock to an intraday high of ₹1,878. At that level, the shares were up about 5.2% from the issue price.
The listing took NSE’s market capitalisation to around ₹4.63 lakh-crore, making it the ninth-largest listed company in India by market value.
NSE’s post-listing valuation has placed the exchange ahead of several long-established blue-chip companies.
At a market capitalisation of ₹4.63 lakh-crore, NSE moved past Hindustan Unilever, which was valued at around ₹4.53 lakh crore. It also surpassed Sun Pharmaceutical Industries at ₹4.48 lakh-crore and Titan Company at around ₹4.43 lakh-crore.
Companies still ahead of NSE in India’s market-cap rankings include Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance and Larsen & Toubro.
At the IPO price itself, NSE was valued at about ₹4.42 lakh-crore. By comparison, rival exchange BSE had a market capitalisation of around ₹1.33 lakh crore.
IPO price: ₹1,785 per share
Listing price: ₹1,800
Intraday high: ₹1,878
Gain from issue price at intraday high: about 5.2%
Post-listing market capitalisation: around ₹4.63 lakh crore
Market-cap ranking: ninth-largest listed company in India
NSE’s ₹22,562-crore IPO was entirely an offer for sale, involving 12.64 crore shares. This means the exchange will not receive any fresh capital from the IPO proceeds, as the money will go to existing shareholders who sold their stakes.
The price band for the issue was fixed at ₹1,700-₹1,785 per share, with a minimum lot size of eight shares.
Investor demand remained healthy, with the IPO receiving 5.71 times overall subscription.
The subscription breakup was:
Qualified institutional buyers: 12.68 times
Non-institutional investors: 6.55 times
Retail investors: 1.39 times
The issue became India’s second-largest IPO, behind Hyundai Motor India’s ₹27,870-crore offering in 2024.
Brokerages remain positive about NSE’s long-term growth opportunity, while also highlighting its premium valuation.
Emkay initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a September 2027 target price of ₹2,050. PL Capital started coverage with an Accumulate rating and a target price of ₹1,950.
PL noted that NSE commands more than 93% share of the cash market and close to 100% share in stock and index futures so far in FY27. However, its market share in index options has declined to around 65%, partly due to regulatory changes.
NSE operates across trading, clearing, settlement, listings, market data and index licensing. Its platforms cover equities, derivatives, debt and mutual funds, while NSE International Exchange provides an overseas trading platform at GIFT City.
As of the first quarter of FY27, NSE had 26.1 crore registered investor accounts, 13.2 crore unique investors, 1,328 trading members and 3,005 listed companies.
The listing now gives public-market investors direct exposure to India’s biggest stock exchange by trading activity, while also placing NSE itself among the country’s most valuable listed businesses.
