NSE IPO – Am I Investing or Not? My Honest Take

A quick note before you read this: These days I’ve stepped back from writing formal “IPO review” style articles. What follows is not a review, a rating, or a recommendation — it’s simply my personal thought process as one investor looking at the NSE IPO and deciding what I’m doing with my own money. Please don’t treat any part of this as advice.

India’s largest stock exchange is finally coming to market. The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) IPO — a mega ₹22,562 crore Offer for Sale — opens on September 17, 2026, and I’ve spent the last few days going through the numbers to figure out whether I’m putting my own money in. Here’s how I’m thinking about it.

Recently I wrote article on Why I have exited India’s largest Flexicap Mutual Fund with my views too.

First, the basics — what NSE actually is

Incorporated in 1992, NSE is India’s largest stock exchange and one of the world’s leading multi-asset exchange platforms. It runs trading, clearing, settlement, listing, market data, and index services across equities, derivatives, currency derivatives, commodities, debt, and mutual funds.

As of June 30, 2026, it had over 26.1 crore registered investor accounts and 12.9 crore unique investors across 1,328 trading members and 3,005 listed companies, with total listed market cap of roughly ₹474 lakh crore. As of March 31, 2026, its market share stood at 99.79% in cash market turnover, 74.71% in equity futures, 99.48% in equity options, and 100% in exchange-traded currency options.

One quirk I found interesting — NSE will list on rival exchange BSE, since regulations don’t let an exchange list on itself.

What I like about the business

• Near-monopoly position — dominant share across cash and derivatives segments in India
• A structural tailwind, not a cyclical one — it benefits directly from rising retail participation and India’s broader capital market growth
• Vertically integrated model — clearing (NSE Clearing), indices (NSE Indices), and data/analytics add revenue beyond plain transaction fees
• Scalable technology built for high-frequency, high-volume trading
• A long track record of profitability and cash generation

The IPO itself — key details

Reservation: QIB — up to 50%; Retail — not less than 35%; NII — not less than 15% of net offer.

This is a 100% Offer for Sale — existing shareholders like SBI, MS Strategic (Mauritius), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Aranda Investments, and Bank of Baroda are exiting partially. NSE itself gets zero proceeds from this issue. There’s no promoter; shareholding is classified as “no identifiable promoter.”

Explore – 15 Mutual Funds With 3-Year Annualized Returns Above 22.5%

The numbers I actually looked at

FY23 figures and standalone borrowings weren’t in the data I had on hand — I’ll update this once I’ve gone through the full RHP.

Key ratios

The thing that stood out most to me: revenue and profit both fell between FY25 and FY26 — Total Income down about 2%, PAT down roughly 15.5% — largely because of SEBI’s revised F&O framework hitting derivatives volumes. That’s the number I keep coming back to.

Where NSE sits versus BSE on valuation

BSE is the only real listed peer here, and honestly it’s not a clean comparison — BSE is much smaller but growing its derivatives revenue faster. On an FY26-earnings basis, NSE works out to roughly 49x, versus BSE’s nearly 67x. Market-traded BSE P/E has also been quoted around 47x as of September 15, 2026 — so depending on the date and earnings base used, NSE is trading at a discount to BSE, though sometimes a narrower one than headlines suggest. There’s no real “industry average” to lean on since India effectively has a two-exchange market.

What’s pulling me toward applying

1. The moat is real. A 99%+ share in cash market turnover and equity options is about as dominant as an Indian listed business gets, and it’s structural, not a fad.
2. It’s a proxy for India’s capital market growth. More demat accounts, more SIPs, more derivatives activity — all of it eventually shows up in NSE’s revenue.
3. The margins are exceptional. A PAT margin near 51-59% is rare for any business, anywhere.
4. It’s priced below BSE. A post-issue P/E of 35.4x against BSE’s 49-67x range gives some valuation comfort, even with the caveats above.

What’s making me pause

1. The FY26 numbers actually fell, and the reason — SEBI’s F&O rule changes — is a risk that’s entirely outside NSE’s control and could resurface.
2. It’s a pure Offer for Sale. Not a rupee of the ₹22,562 crore goes into the business itself; it’s purely a liquidity event for existing shareholders.
3. GMP has been cooling, not rising, into the subscription window (more below) — that’s not a great signal so close to listing.
4. BSE is the more aggressive grower right now, gaining share in weekly options. A near-monopoly isn’t the same as an untouchable one.

Grey Market Premium (GMP) — as of today

As of September 15, 2026, NSE IPO GMP is around ₹208 per share, which works out to roughly a 12% premium over the ₹1,785 upper price band. That’s a real cooldown from early September, when GMP touched highs of ₹285-310 before sliding — it’s swung anywhere between roughly ₹160 and ₹320 in the run-up to opening.

GMP is unofficial and can move sharply right up to listing day, so I don’t lean on it heavily — but a falling trend so close to the issue opening is one more data point I’m weighing.

So — am I applying?

Here’s where I’ve landed, purely as one investor thinking out loud: NSE is a genuinely high-quality, dominant, cash-generative business, and the valuation relative to BSE gives me some comfort. But the FY26 dip and the fact that this is 100% OFS with a cooling GMP mean I’m not rushing in purely for listing-day excitement. If I apply, it’ll be with a longer holding horizon in mind rather than a quick-flip expectation — and I’ll be watching how subscription numbers and GMP move through the week before making a final call.

This is where my thinking stands today. It may well change by the time the issue closes, and it’s entirely personal — not a recommendation for anyone else’s portfolio.

Do you know among Largecap and Flexicap Mutual Fund category which one did better.

A Few Things People Often Ask

What is the NSE IPO issue size and price band? ₹22,561.57 crore, entirely Offer for Sale, priced at ₹1,700-₹1,785 per share.

When does it open and close? Opens September 17, 2026, closes September 21, 2026.

What’s the minimum investment for a retail investor? ₹14,280 for one lot of 8 shares at the upper band.

Is any of this money going to NSE itself? No — it’s 100% Offer for Sale, so NSE receives nothing from the issue.

What’s the GMP today? Around ₹208 as of September 15, 2026 — unofficial, and it can move daily.

When does it list? Tentatively September 24, 2026, on BSE.

Disclaimer

This article reflects my personal opinion and thought process as an individual investor — it is not an IPO review, rating, or recommendation, and should not be treated as investment advice of any kind. I am a NISM-Certified Investment Adviser but I am not a SEBI Registered Investment Advisor, and nothing here should be construed as advice from one. Please do your own research, read the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP) carefully, and consult a SEBI-registered financial adviser before making any investment decision of your own. Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks, and what I choose to do with my own money may not be right for you.

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Suresh KP

Founder at Myinvestmentideas.com

Suresh KP is the founder of MyInvestmentIdeas.com and a personal finance expert with over 23 years of experience in investments, mutual funds, stock markets, insurance, taxation, and financial planning. He has completed NISM Investment Adviser (Level 1 & Level 2) and NISM Research Analyst certifications and has authored thousands of articles helping investors make informed financial decisions. For more about his experience and qualifications, visit About Suresh KP.

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