The National Stock Exchange is expected to file its DRHP with SEBI between June 5 and 15, 2026. The issue will be a pure OFS of around Rs 22,000-23,000 crore, with listing targeted before December
The National Stock Exchange is finally close to filing draft papers for its IPO. According to a report by the Economic Times, the exchange is looking to submit its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) to SEBI between June 5 and June 15, 2026, after recent discussions with its lead bankers on the timeline.
For an IPO that has been stuck for nearly a decade, this is the most concrete step yet.
Why now
The logjam broke on January 30, 2026, when SEBI issued its No-Objection Certificate to NSE, the regulatory clearance that market infrastructure institutions need before they can file. The NSE board approved the IPO plan on February 6 and reconstituted its IPO Committee, chaired by former LIC Managing Director Tablesh Pandey, with MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan on it.
The June window is not random. NSE wants to file once its FY26 (March 2026) financials are in, so investors can assess the latest performance before the issue opens.
What the issue looks like
A few things are clear from the reporting so far:
- The IPO will be a pure offer for sale. Existing shareholders will sell up to around 5 percent of their stake, and NSE itself will not raise any fresh capital.
- The issue size is estimated at Rs 22,000 to Rs 23,000 crore. If that holds, this would rank among the largest IPOs India has seen.
- The unlisted market currently values NSE between Rs 4.5 lakh crore and Rs 5 lakh crore. The exchange is said to be targeting a valuation closer to Rs 6 lakh crore.
- NSE has appointed roughly 20 book-running lead managers, including Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, ICICI Securities and SBI Capital, with MUFG Intime India as registrar. That is an unusually large syndicate, which fits the size of the deal.
What happens after filing
Filing the DRHP is the start of the regulatory clock, not the finish. SEBI will review the document and may ask for clarifications or revisions before clearing it. Chauhan has previously indicated the process from NOC to listing typically runs 7 to 8 months, which lines up with the exchange's stated goal of listing before December 2026.
A couple of things are still worth watching. There is a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the NOC on technical grounds tied to derivative contract adjustments. And the final settlement of older regulatory matters will be a focus area for investors who remember the governance issues that delayed this listing in the first place.
For retail investors, none of the details that matter most, the price band, lot size and subscription dates, are set yet. Those come much later, after SEBI clears the draft.
We will keep this page updated as the DRHP is filed and the IPO timeline firms up. Allotment status, GMP and listing-day tracking will be available on the dedicated NSE IPO page on iporise.com once the issue opens.