The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, indicating that the stock exchange is preparing to list after years of regulatory-linked delays.

The company claims to be India’s largest stock exchange by trading activity in cash equities and equity derivatives, and the largest in India for currency derivatives trading.

The prospectus states that the NSE will offer up to 148.9 million shares of face value ₹1 each to investors. This is being done “to enhance our visibility and brand image, provide liquidity to shareholders and provide a public market for the equity shares in India,” the company has said.

The entire funds gathered through the sale of shares will be paid to the selling shareholders of NSE, after deduction of their portion of offer-related expenses and relevant taxes.

There are 23 existing investors who will be selling shares including Temasek’s Aranda Investments, Stock Holding Corporation of India and State Bank of India.

Within this list, some (possibly) early investors in NSE bought shares for as little as 80 paise a piece, while others have bought shares for as much as ₹1,826 a piece.

About 421 investors own 80 per cent of all shares in the stock exchange.

Life Insurance Corporation of India, the largest shareholder in NSE, with a 10.72 per cent stake, will not be selling any shares.

Till March 2026, NSE reported total income of ₹18,713 crore, slightly lower than ₹19,177 crore in the previous year. Profit after tax stood at ₹10,302 crore, down from ₹12,187 crore a year earlier.

Profits are higher inspite of a fall in annual contribution to a Core Settlement Guarantee Fund, and losses accounted for due to impact of the new labour codes.