NSE Shares Debut at Rs 1,800, Rise Over 5% and Enter India’s Top 10 After Rs 22,562-Crore IPO

Shares of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) made their stock market debut on Thursday at Rs 1,800 on the BSE, a 0.84 per cent premium to the issue price of Rs 1,785, before climbing as much as 5 per cent in intraday trade. The stock eventually closed at Rs 1,818, up 1.85 per cent from the IPO price, giving NSE a market capitalisation of around Rs 4.5 lakh crore.

NSE’s Rs 22,569-crore initial public offering was India’s second-largest IPO, after Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870-crore issue in 2024. The issue was subscribed 5.71 times during the September 17-21 bidding period, with bids for 50.58 crore shares against 8.86 crore shares on offer.

Institutional investors led demand. The qualified institutional buyers’ portion was subscribed 12.68 times, while the non-institutional investor category was subscribed 6.55 times. The retail portion was subscribed 1.39 times. The IPO was entirely an offer for sale, meaning the proceeds went to existing shareholders rather than NSE itself.

NSE briefly entered the ranks of India’s top 10 listed companies by market capitalisation during Thursday’s trading session. Its market value crossed Rs 4.5 lakh crore and reached around Rs 4.63 lakh crore at one point as the stock touched an intraday high of Rs 1,878.

The exchange also emerged as one of the world’s 10 largest listed exchanges by market value during the session. Reuters reported that its valuation reached about $47.55 billion when the stock was trading around Rs 1,840.70.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), one of NSE’s largest shareholders, bought shares worth around Rs 450 crore in the IPO rather than acting as a selling shareholder. Its overall stake in NSE rose to around 10.81 per cent.

NSE’s debut follows strong growth in participation across India’s capital markets. The exchange now has around 12.91 crore unique registered clients, compared with about 3.1 crore earlier.

As of the fourth quarter of 2025-26, NSE had around 93 per cent market share in cash equities, 100 per cent in equity futures, 73 per cent in equity options and 100 per cent in currency derivatives.

The listing came on a weak day for Indian equities. The Sensex fell 1,247.71 points, or 1.67 per cent, while the Nifty declined 1.64 per cent to 23,063.10. Brent crude rose above $105 a barrel amid renewed geopolitical and diplomatic uncertainty, adding to concerns over India’s import bill, inflation and corporate costs.