The National Stock Exchange (NSE), which has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator Sebi for its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO), continues to significantly outperform its rival, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), across key financial and operational metrics.
The NSE IPO is expected to be one of the largest public issues in India’s capital market history, with market estimates pegging the issue size at around ₹30,000 crore.
According to the DRHP, NSE remains the dominant force in India’s equity and derivatives markets despite BSE maintaining a larger number of listed companies.
NSE vs BSE: Financials
For FY26, NSE reported revenue from operations of ₹16,601 crore, more than three times BSE’s revenue of ₹4,834 crore.
Transaction charges remained the largest contributor to earnings for both exchanges. NSE earned ₹13,057 crore from transaction charges during FY26, while BSE generated ₹3,795 crore.
The profitability gap was equally stark. NSE posted a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹10,302 crore in FY26, compared with BSE’s net profit of ₹2,487 crore.
NSE also reported slightly superior margins, with an EBITDA margin of 66.9% versus BSE’s 64%. NSE’s PAT margin stood at 51%, compared with BSE’s 48%.
NSE vs BSE: Listings, Market Capitalisation
BSE continued to retain its position as India’s largest exchange by number of listed companies. As of March 2026, BSE had 5,955 listed entities, nearly double NSE’s 2,978 listed companies.
However, despite the large gap in listings, both exchanges had almost identical market capitalisation. BSE’s listed companies had a combined market value of ₹411.6 lakh crore, marginally higher than NSE’s ₹411.3 lakh crore.
Reports say that NSE shares are likely to be priced at ₹1,800 to ₹2,040. At the higher end, the exchange will be valued at over ₹5 lakh crore. Meanwhile, BSE’s market capitalization on June 19 stood above ₹1.64 lakh crore.
NSE vs BSE: Trading Activity
NSE remained India’s primary trading venue by a wide margin across cash and derivatives segments. The exchange reported an average daily trading volume (ADTV) of ₹1.06 lakh crore in the cash market during FY26, more than 13 times higher than BSE’s ₹79,500 crore.
In the cash market, NSE commanded a 92.99% market share, recording total turnover of ₹260.63 lakh crore against the industry’s overall turnover of ₹280.26 lakh crore.
In equity futures, NSE accounted for 99.79% of industry turnover. The exchange reported turnover of ₹393.82 lakh crore, while the industry’s total turnover stood at ₹394.67 lakh crore.
In the equity options segment, NSE held a 74.71% share of industry premium turnover, reporting premium turnover of ₹142.42 lakh crore.
NSE vs BSE: Ecosystem
NSE’s benchmark indices continue to enjoy a significantly larger passive investment ecosystem than BSE’s indices.
Assets under management (AUM) linked to Nifty indices reached ₹8.14 lakh crore in FY26, more than three times the ₹2.5 lakh crore linked to BSE indices, as per NSE’s IPO DRHP.
The larger passive investment base reflects the growing dominance of Nifty-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index funds among domestic and foreign investors.
NSE vs BSE: Global Leadership
As of March 31, 2026, NSE was the world’s largest derivatives exchange by contracts traded for the seventh consecutive year, according to the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).
The exchange accounted for 11.38% of global cash equity trades and 51.18% of global equity derivatives contracts traded, highlighting its growing significance in global capital markets.
While BSE has strengthened its presence in select segments over the past few years, the DRHP data underscores NSE’s overwhelming leadership in revenue generation, profitability, liquidity and trading volumes ahead of its landmark public listing.
