The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has fixed the price band for its much-awaited initial public offering at Rs 1,700-1,785 per share, valuing the exchange at up to Rs 4.42 lakh crore.
The IPO, which is entirely an offer for sale (OFS), will see existing shareholders sell up to 12.64 crore shares. At the upper end of the price band, the issue size will be about Rs 22,562 crore, while at the floor price it will be around Rs 21,486 crore.
The IPO will open for anchor investors on September 16 and for other investors on September 17. The issue will close on September 21.
The shares have a face value of Rs 1 each. The NSE will be listed on the main board of the BSE after the IPO.
The exchange has said it does not have an identifiable promoter. The selling shareholders include State Bank of India, Canara Pension Fund Investment Board, Aranda Investments (Mauritius), MS Strategic (Mauritius), The New India Assurance Company, SBI Capital Markets, Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India, General Insurance Corporation of India and United India Insurance Company.
After the offer, NSE will have 24.75 crore paid-up shares. At the upper price of Rs 1,785, this implies a market capitalisation of about Rs 4.42 lakh crore. At the floor price of Rs 1,700, the valuation would be about Rs 4.21 lakh crore.
The company has offered a discount of Rs 170 per share to eligible employees participating in the employee reservation portion.
IPO cheaper than industry average on P/E
At the upper end of the price band, NSE's price-to-earnings ratio based on diluted earnings for FY26 works out to 40.85 times. At the lower end, it is 42.89 times.
The company said this compares with an average P/E of 54.28 times for its industry peers.
NSE's weighted average return on net worth for the last three financial years stood at 37.92%.
Transaction charges drive revenue
Transaction charges remain the biggest source of NSE's operating revenue. In the three months ended June 30, 2026, transaction charges stood at Rs 3,623 crore and accounted for nearly 79.5% of revenue from operations.
For FY26, transaction charges were Rs 13,057 crore, accounting for 78.65% of operating revenue.
The exchange also earns revenue from listing services, data centres, connectivity, data feeds and terminal services.
The IPO will be conducted through the book-building process. Up to 50% of the net offer can be allocated to qualified institutional buyers, while at least 15% will be available to non-institutional investors and at least 35% to retail investors.