National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. has lowered the price range for its long-awaited IPO and may shrink the stake on sale, according to people familiar with the matter, leaving the deal poised to fall short of becoming India’s biggest-ever listing.
NSE is likely to set its IPO price at ₹1,700-1,785 per share, below an earlier marketed range of ₹2,000-2,100, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. It may also reduce the stake being offered to about 5.5% of the total equity capital from the originally planned 6%, after some shareholders backed out of selling their stakes at the lower price, they said.
At the top of the proposed range, the sale of a 5.5% stake would raise about ₹24,300 crore, below the ₹27,900 crore raised by Hyundai Motor India Ltd. in 2024 in the country’s largest-ever IPO. That would peg the NSE IPO valuation at as much as ₹4.42 lakh crore, compared with previously targeted ₹5.26 lakh crore.
NSE’s decision to downsize the deal reflects unease over its valuation as growth slows and regulators step up scrutiny of stock-market activity. Options trading, a key driver of the exchange’s success, has come under particular pressure, with the government doubling the transaction tax on some derivatives and proposing a higher short-term capital gains tax.
Also denting the sentiment around the industry, Indian stocks have been chronic under-performers. The benchmark Nifty 50 index is down 10% this year, compared with a 25% gain in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
“The bar to win investors over has moved higher, not just for this IPO but for Indian equities more broadly after a year of underperforming many of its Asian peers,” said Hebe Chen, a senior market analyst at Vantage Global Prime in Sydney. “Weaker returns and persistent foreign outflows mean they now need a much stronger valuation argument before putting fresh money to work. New listings in India can still attract capital, but investors are becoming far more selective.”
At the upper end of the revised price band, NSE would still be valued at about 43.4 times earnings in the previous fiscal year, among the most expensive of the world’s 10 largest listed exchanges. At $46.6 billion, it would rank as the world’s eighth-largest stock exchange by market value.
IPO size: NSE vs Jio Platforms
The cut in the NSE IPO size also raises questions about a busy listings pipeline that includes Jio Platforms Ltd. progressing toward what could be one of the country’s biggest-ever IPOs. First-time share sales in the country have raised almost $10 billion so far in 2026, compared with more than $20 billion in each of the previous two years that both set records, according to Bloomberg data.
NSE shares, which closed for off-market transfers on 8 September ahead of the IPO, last traded at ₹2,045 apiece, according to UnlistedZone.com, a platform that facilitates transactions in unlisted shares. The upper end of the IPO price range is about 13% below that level.
The company is expected to announce the official price range this week and open the IPO for subscription in the week beginning 14 September, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and details including the price range and timing could still change, the people said.
A representative for NSE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The exchange filed its draft red-herring prospectus, or DRHP, in June for an IPO consisting entirely of secondary shares. India’s market regulator approved the IPO prospectus on Sept. 4.
Morgan Stanley, Temasek Holdings Pte, State Bank of India, Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd., General Insurance Corp. of India, New India Assurance Co. Ltd., National Insurance Co. Ltd. and Oriental Insurance Co. are among the shareholders selling stakes in the offering, according to the filing.
