India’s National Stock Exchange debuts with a valuation of about ₹4.4 lakh crore after a heavily oversubscribed listing, highlighting both market dominance and emerging regulatory challenges amid a weakening domestic market backdrop.
India’s National Stock Exchange began trading on Thursday after a long-awaited listing that values the market operator at about ₹4.4 lakh crore, or roughly $46 billion, and caps a decade of anticipation over one of the country’s most closely watched public offerings. Reuters reported that the debut came after a heavily oversubscribed sale and on a day when the exchange’s shares opened above the issue price before easing from their early highs.
The offering was priced in a band of ₹1,700 to ₹1,785 a share, with the final level implying a valuation of about ₹4.42 lakh crore. According to reports from Indian market publications, the deal was structured entirely as an offer for sale, meaning the proceeds go to existing shareholders rather than to the exchange itself. The issue raised about ₹22,500 crore and was trimmed from earlier expectations, reflecting a more restrained approach by sellers than had initially been discussed.
Demand for the shares was strong. The Times of India reported that the issue was subscribed 5.71 times by the close of bidding, with institutional investors leading interest. That enthusiasm came despite concerns from analysts that the exchange’s valuation looked rich relative to its earnings growth. Before the listing, Chola Securities said NSE’s profit expansion had lagged that of some global peers even as its pricing carried a sizeable premium, according to the report carried by Agence France-Presse.
NSE’s market power remains formidable. It dominates India’s cash equities market and, by several measures, is the world’s largest derivatives exchange by number of contracts traded, helped by a surge in retail options activity after the pandemic. Yet that same derivatives dependence has become a risk factor. India’s markets regulator tightened rules on equity derivatives in 2024 to curb speculation, and trading volumes fell sharply afterwards, leaving questions over how quickly NSE can keep growing in a more regulated environment. The listing also comes against a weaker backdrop for Indian equities, with the benchmark Nifty down more than 11% this year amid geopolitical worries and the absence of the artificial intelligence-fuelled rally that has lifted some other markets.
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