India’s largest stock exchange files for IPO as mega-listings gather pace

Statues of people and a bull are seen next to the logo of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Mumbai, India, September 6, 2024. Francis Mascarenhas | Reuters India's largest bourse, the National Stock Exchange, has filed papers for an ​initial public offering , which is expected to be among the largest listings this year in the country. The IPO will be entirely an offer for sale, with many large domestic and foreign investors paring their stake. India's largest public sector bank, State Bank of India, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Singapore's Temasek are among the 10 investors selling stake via the IPO. Details regarding the pricing of the IPO and valuation have not been disclosed in the draft papers. The issues usually take two to three months, as per market experts, to get clearance from India's capital market regulator. India is among the top 10 equity markets globally with a total market cap of around 474 trillion rupees ($5 trillion), and NSE is the main exchange. It commands 93% share of India's cash market and makes up nearly 100% of the country's equity futures trading, with about 75% share in equity options trading, according to the draft IPO filing. NSE, which has been trying to list since 2016, has over 129 million unique registered investors. NSE's Indian competitor, much smaller in terms of trading volume, BSE has a market cap of $17.2 billion and trades at a price to earnings of 66 times on trailing 12-month basis. …