NSE shareholder base crosses 1 lakh-mark as it still awaits IPO nod

The number of NSE shareholders has been growing steadily even as the exchange awaits the regulatory and statutory approvals for an initial public offer (IPO) – the process has been stuck for more than eight years.

The number of shareholders in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has now crossed the one lakh-mark, making it one of the largest unlisted entities of the country in terms of the size of the investor base. Incidentally, many listed companies of the country also do not have such a large investor base.

According to market sources, this assumes significance because NSE, which is the largest bourse in the equity space in terms of market share, features among the top 25 companies in the country in terms of profitability.

As per exchange disclosures, the consolidated net profit for FY25 was pegged at Rs 12,188 crore, a 47 percent jump over the previous fiscal.

Some of the well-known names amongst the shareholders of the exchange include insurance majors like LIC, GIC, New India Assurance Company, National Insurance Company, and Oriental Insurance. State Bank of India also owns a 3.23 percent stake in the exchange.

NSE also has many foreign shareholders including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Crown Capital, MS Strategic (Mauritius), TIMF Holdings, TA Asia Pacific Acquisitions, and Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd among others.

Further, nearly 34,000 retail shareholders also own shares worth up to Rs 2 lakh each, as per the shareholding pattern of the exchange for the quarter ended March 31.

The number of NSE shareholders has been growing steadily even as the exchange awaits regulatory and statutory approvals for an initial public offer (IPO) which has been stuck for more than eight years.

In a recent interaction with Moneycontrol, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said that the regulator is engaged with the bourse with respect to the IPO process.

“NSE and SEBI are in discussions on several key points — governance, technology, litigation, and the clearing corporation. Hopefully, these issues will be resolved with a clear roadmap, and then the IPO can move forward,” Pandey had told Moneycontrol.

NSE filed its IPO prospectus in December 2016. Shares of the exchange are one of the most actively traded in the unlisted space. Earlier this year, in March, NSE wrote to SEBI seeking  a No Objection Certificate (NOC) that would allow it to take further steps towards listing of its shares.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that NSE has written to SEBI for an NOC for its IPO. NSE had written to SEBI with a similar request in November 2019, twice in 2020 and thereafter in August 2024 as well.

In February, SEBI had responded to NSE’s letter seeking an NOC, highlighting certain observations on issues like technology, key management personnel (KMP), ownership of clearing corporations, and ongoing cases related to the colocation matter. NSE, while making a fresh appeal for a NOC in March, has responded to all the observations in  SEBI’s February response.