NSE IPO closes today: 15 brokers say 'subscribe' as issue attracts 20.4 lakh applications

NSE IPO update: The initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) shall close for subscription today, that is on Monday, September 21. NSE is selling shares at Rs 1,700-1,785 apiece in a lot size of 8 equity shares, with the issue size pegged at up to Rs 22,562 crore. The IPO is entirely an offer for sale by existing shareholders.

Brokerage firms have largely maintained a positive view on the NSE IPO, ascribing it as a 'subscribe' rating for long-term citing it a proxy-play for India's growth story. They have cited the exchange's dominant market share, strong competitive moat, vertically integrated business model and high operating margins as the main reasons behind their stance.

NSE IPO details
NSE has reserved shares worth Rs 70 crore for eligible employees, who will get a discount of Rs 170 per share. Half of the net offer has been reserved for qualified institutional bidders, while retail investors and non-institutional investors have been allotted 35 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. At the upper end of the price band, NSE's market capitalisation is Rs 4.42 lakh crore.

Brokerage views
Brokerages are positive on NSE led by its 93 per cent share in cash equities and 99.8 per cent in equity futures, deep liquidity, network effects, technology infrastructure, high operating leverage, negligible conventional debt, strong cash generation, valuation discount to BSE, long-term financialisation opportunity, expanding investor ecosystem and scope for future monetisation from new asset classes and businesses such as electricity, natural gas, coal, indices, data services and technology.

Top brokerage firms like Nirmal Bang Securities, Geojit Investments, Spark Institutional Equities, YES Securities, Choice Broking, Angel One, Aditya Birla Money, Marwadi Financial Services, LKP Securities, Ventura Securities, Ajcon Global Services, Swastika Investmart, KC Securities, SMIFS, Sushil Finance and Way2Wealth Brokers have a 'subscribe' recommendation on the NSE IPO.

NSE IPO: Subscription so far
The IPO of NSE was overall subscribed 1.22 times by the end of second day of subscription, attracting nearly 20.4 lakh applications. The portion for non-institutional investors (NIIs) was subscribed 1.83 times, while allocation for qualified institutional bidders (QIBs) was booked 1.54 times. Portions reserved for employee and retail bidders were subscribed 1.63 times and 78 per cent, respectively.

Business and financials
Incorporated in 1992, NSE is India's largest stock exchange and one of the world's leading multi-asset exchange platforms. It operates across equities, derivatives, currency derivatives, commodities, debt securities and mutual funds, with businesses spanning trading, clearing, settlement, listing, market data, index services and regulatory oversight.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2026, it reported net profit of Rs 3,120.08 crore and total income of Rs 5,252.17 crore. For the year ended March 31, 2026, it reported a bottomline of Rs 10,302.06 crore and net profit of Rs 18,713.37 crore. PAT margin stood at 58.78 per cent in Q1FY27, while RoE and RoCE were 32.98 per cent and 42.80 per cent in FY26.

Anchor book details for NSE IPO
Ahead of the IPO, NSE raised Rs 6,746.18 crore from 189 anchor investors by allotting 3,7793,739 shares at Rs 1,785 each. The anchor book included 98 mutual fund schemes and 27 life insurance companies. Market sources said demand in the anchor portion was nearly Rs 1.2 lakh crore, or about 20 times the book size.

Overseas investors included GIC Singapore, ADIA, Norges Bank, Fidelity and HSBC GAM, while domestic participants included LIC, SBI MF, ICICI Pru MF, HDFC MF, Nippon MF, Axis MF, HDFC Life, SBI Life and SBI General.

NSE IPO: Issue managers, listing and registrars
NSE IPO is managed by BRLMs like Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial, Morgan Stanley India, Citigroup Global Markets, JP Morgan India, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets, Anand Rathi Advisors, Avendus Capital, DAM Capital, Axis Capital, HDFC Bank, Equirus Capital, ICICI Securities, IDBI Capital Markets, IIFL Capital, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors, Nuvama Wealth Management, Pantomath Capital Advisors and 360 One WAM.

MUFG Intime India is the registrar for NSE IPO, while its shares will list on BSE Ltd only later this week on Thursday, September 24. Basis of the allotment shall be finalized Tuesday, September 22.