National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.'s $2.4 billion initial public offering closed with 5.7 times overall subscription, driven primarily by institutional investors who bid 12.7 times their allocation. Non-institutional investors subscribed 6.5 times, while retail demand remained muted at just 1.3 times, reflecting valuation concerns. The offering, priced at 1,700-1,785 rupees per share, values NSE at roughly 42.9 times earnings — a discount to domestic rival BSE Ltd. but well above the 24-25 times multiple for global peers like CME Group and Deutsche Boerse.

Regulatory scrutiny of speculative derivatives trading, central to NSE's profitability, pressured the exchange to scale back valuation expectations. The gray-market premium fell to about 3% from a peak of 16%. Anchor investors including Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Fidelity, Eastspring, GIC, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority were allocated 67.46 billion rupees of shares.

Domestic participants included Life Insurance Corp. of India, SBI Funds Management Ltd., and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. The offer consists entirely of shares sold by existing investors, with NSE receiving no proceeds. At the top end, the deal raises about 226 billion rupees ($2.4 billion), India's second-largest IPO after Hyundai Motor India Ltd.'s 279 billion-rupee sale in 2024.