From microseconds to nanoseconds: NSE to process nearly 100 million transactions a second after April 11

Exchange to process up to 100 million transactions per second; MD Ashishkumar Chauhan flags rising cyber risks amid scale expansion

• NSE to cut system response time to nanoseconds from April 11
• Upgrade boosts speed 1,000x, aiding high-frequency trading
• NSE plans new products like electricity and 10 gm gold futures

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The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) will reduce its system response time to nanoseconds from April 11, a shift that could allow it to process nearly 100 million transactions per second. The move marks one of the most significant technology upgrades for India’s largest exchange as trading volumes intensify across segments.

Speaking at an event organised by the Association of NSE Members of India (ANMI), Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ashishkumar Chauhan said the exchange’s speed would increase almost 1,000 times from current levels, according to a report by Business Standard.

NSE’s present response time stands at around 100 microseconds, enabling it to process roughly 50–60 lakh transactions per second. For perspective, one second equals a million microseconds, while a nanosecond is a billionth of a second.

“We are going to give you response time in nanoseconds. Your speed is going to increase manifold, almost 1,000 times from what you are experiencing currently from NSE,” Chauhan said, adding, “We are real-time finance,” Business Standard reported.

The ultra-low latency upgrade is expected to help the exchange manage sharply higher trading volumes while reducing execution delays, a critical factor for high-frequency and institutional traders.

Chauhan cautioned that as transaction speeds and volumes scale up, cyber security risks rise in parallel.

“Ours is an unbelievable scale; not many people can understand. And that also brings me to the issue of cyber security. All this can come to a grinding halt if we are not able to handle cyber security. All vendors must ensure that cyber security is of paramount importance,” he said, as reported by Business Standard.

To support rising demand, NSE is expanding its colocation (colo) infrastructure. The exchange currently operates more than 2,000 colo racks and can scale that capacity to around 4,500 racks.

Colocation services allow trading members to place their servers inside the exchange’s data centre, significantly reducing network latency and enabling faster access to market data and order execution. The service is widely used by high-frequency and institutional traders.

Chauhan also suggested that artificial intelligence could help vendors build more efficient solutions at lower costs.

Beyond technology upgrades, NSE is expanding into new asset classes. Electricity futures and gold futures are part of the roadmap, while contracts for difference (CFDs) are under development.

The exchange is also preparing to launch 10 gm gold futures, which have recently received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).