NSE Set to Cut IPO Price Range, Giving Up Shot at India's Biggest-Ever Listing

Since India's market regulator SEBI cleared the National Stock Exchange's IPO prospectus on September 4, the deal has gotten smaller, not bigger.

According to Bloomberg, reported by ETCFO of the Economic Times on September 9, NSE is likely to price its shares at Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,785 apiece, down from the earlier marketed range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,100. The exchange may also cut the stake on offer to roughly 5.5% of total equity, down from the 6% originally planned, after some shareholders balked at selling at the lower price, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The shrinkage is real money. At the top of the new range, a 5.5% stake sale would raise about Rs 243 billion, or roughly $2.6 billion. That's below the Rs 278.7 billion Hyundai Motor India raised in its 2024 listing, which currently holds the record for India's largest-ever IPO. The new numbers put NSE's valuation at up to Rs 4.42 trillion, or about $46.6 billion, down from the Rs 5.26 trillion, or $55.6 billion, figure that had been circulating through August and into early September.

Why the cut

Bloomberg's sourcing points to a simple supply problem: too many mega-deals hitting India's market at once. Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate, is also working toward what could be one of India's biggest-ever IPOs, estimated at roughly Rs 37,700 crore according to Rediff. Bankers are worried the market can't absorb both at full price.

IPOs in India have raised close to $10 billion so far in 2026, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared with more than $20 billion in each of the two prior years. Appetite for premium pricing has softened compared to a year or two ago.

Arun Kejriwal, founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services, told Reuters, as carried by The Business Times, that it's unclear whether NSE's listing will ease or intensify competition for investor attention given the timing. "I'm not sure whether NSE hitting the market at such a time will add to the pressure or reduce the pressure," Kejriwal said.

Deven Choksey, managing director of DRChoksey FinServ, offered the bullish counterpoint in the same Business Times report, arguing that at a price-to-earnings ratio of around 35 times, the IPO would still leave investors room for post-listing gains. That case was made before the price cut was reported, so it's untested against the new, lower range.

A material gap between reports

Coverage published the same day shows how fast this moved. A Tech Times report published Sept. 9 still describes NSE targeting a $55.6 billion valuation with a price band "expected September 11" in the Rs 2,000-2,100 range, treating that as the live number. ETCFO's report, sourced to Bloomberg and also published Sept. 9, says that range has already been cut. Given Bloomberg's on-the-record sourcing to people directly familiar with the deal, and the specificity of the new figures, the lower range appears to be where the deal is actually headed. NSE itself hasn't confirmed either number publicly, and a representative for the exchange didn't respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.

What's still unresolved

Even at the reduced price, NSE would still be one of the largest IPOs in Indian history, and would put the exchange among the country's ten most valuable listed companies. The offering remains structured entirely as a sale of existing shares by shareholders including State Bank of India, Morgan Stanley, Temasek Holdings, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and several state-owned insurers, meaning NSE itself won't receive any of the proceeds.

The formal price band is expected around Sept. 11, with subscription opening the week of Sept. 14 and a BSE listing targeted before Sept. 25, according to multiple reports including Rediff and The Business Times. Whether the shareholders who reportedly pulled back from selling at the lower price come back into the deal, and whether Jio's IPO timeline collides with NSE's, will determine whether this ends up as India's second-largest listing or something smaller still.