NSE IPO Fully Subscribed In Two Days, ₹22,569 Crore Issue Draws Strong Demand

The much-awaited ₹22,569-crore initial public offering of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) crossed the full-subscription mark on the second day of bidding on Friday, with qualified institutional buyers and non-institutional investors providing the biggest push to the issue.

As of 2:56 pm, investors had placed bids for 8,88,23,000 shares against the 8,86,42,911 shares on offer, according to data available with the BSE. The overall issue was therefore fully subscribed, even as retail participation remained below the level seen in the institutional categories.

The QIB portion was subscribed 1.32 times, while the quota reserved for non-institutional investors was subscribed 1.37 times. The retail portion, meanwhile, received bids for 66 per cent of the shares reserved for the category.

The response gives the NSE issue a strong start despite its enormous size. At ₹22,569 crore, it is India's second-largest IPO, behind Hyundai Motor India's ₹27,870-crore offering in 2024.

Ahead of the public issue, the NSE had already raised ₹6,746 crore from anchor investors, with participation from major domestic and global institutions. The anchor book included LIC, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, GIC Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Norges Bank, among others. The exchange had allocated shares to 189 anchor investors at the upper end of the price band.

The NSE IPO has a price band of ₹1,700 to ₹1,785 per share and comprises entirely an Offer For Sale (OFS) of up to 12.64 crore existing equity shares. This means the money raised from the share sale will go to the existing shareholders selling their stakes rather than to the NSE itself.

At the upper end of the price band, the issue gives the exchange a valuation of about ₹4.42 lakh crore.

The public offering is also significant because it marks the culmination of the NSE's long-delayed plan to become a listed company. Its listing plans had remained stalled for years amid regulatory and legal issues, including those surrounding the co-location controversy.

The issue will remain open until September 21, with NSE shares expected to make their market debut on September 24.