MUMBAI: The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) says it has received regulatory clearance to begin preparations for an initial public offering (IPO), bringing an end to years of delays in listing its shares.
The approval marks “a significant milestone in our growth journey,” Srinivas Injeti, chairperson of the nation’s largest stock bourse, said in a statement last Friday evening.
The statement didn’t clarify if the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has agreed to the exchange’s settlement applications for old cases that held up its share sale plans.
The clearance comes nearly a decade after the bourse first filed for an IPO in 2016, a plan that was later derailed by allegations of corporate governance lapses and unfair market access raised by the Sebi.
NSE, which counts Temasek Holdings Pte among its investors, had filed two applications to settle related litigations for 12.97bil rupees (US$141mil).
The approval follows a banner year for India’s IPO market, led by technology startups. Kotak Mahindra Capital Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc expect IPO fundraising to reach as much as US$25bil this year, marking a third straight annual record after companies raised more than US$22bil in 2025, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.
NSE was barred from accessing the capital market for six months in 2019 and was ordered to disgorge a portion of its profits after allegations that some brokers gained an unfair edge by placing their servers closer to its trading systems at its co-location centre. — Bloomberg
