The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has crossed a major milestone as its shareholder base has now gone past the one lakh mark. This makes NSE one of the biggest unlisted companies in India in terms of the number of investors. Surprisingly, many listed companies don’t even have such a large investor base.
NSE is the country’s largest stock exchange in terms of equity market share. It is also among the top 25 most profitable companies in India. In the financial year 2024–25, NSE reported a net profit of Rs 12,188 crore, which is a 47 percent jump from the previous year.
Some major institutional investors in NSE include Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), General Insurance Corporation (GIC), State Bank of India (SBI), and several other public sector insurance companies. SBI alone holds a 3.23 percent stake in NSE. Many foreign investors also hold stakes, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Aranda Investments.
Interestingly, 34,000 retail investors own shares valued at as much as Rs 2 lakh each in the exchange. Though unlisted, NSE shares are traded actively in the unlisted market.
Despite its growing investor base, NSE’s much-delayed IPO is languishing for over a period of more than eight years. It had filed IPO papers in draft form back in December 2016 but hasn’t got approval from the regulators.
Recently, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey announced that the regulator is actively negotiating with the NSE. The issues under discussion are the standards of governance, pending courts cases, technology systems, and the ownership of clearing corporations.
The NSE has written to SEBI on numerous occasions for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to proceed for the IPO. The last was done in March 2025, after the NSE replied back to SEBI’s observations made in February. SEBI has still not cleared the plan, but negotiations are taking place.
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Source: Moneycontrol.
News Desk
