The landmark initial public offering (IPO) of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), regarded as one of the most eagerly anticipated public issues in modern Indian financial history, recorded steady bidding activity across institutional and retail desks on its second day of bidding. By the close of trading hours on Friday, September 18, 2026, the overall issue had reached 43 percent subscription (0.43 times). Bidding data shows significant divergence across investor categories: exchange employees demonstrated overwhelming conviction with their reserved quota reaching 98 percent subscription—incentivized by an attractive employee discount of ₹170 per share—while Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) booked 72 percent of their allocated portion. Retail individual bidders subscribed 44 percent of their bucket, whereas Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) adopted a wait-and-watch approach typical of large book-building exercises, filling 19 percent of their quota to bring cumulative bids to approximately 3.83 crore equity shares against the 8.86 crore shares on offer.

Grey Market Signals Steady Appetite: GMP at ₹142 Indicates 7.96% Listing Premium

Market sentiment across unlisted equity desks remains optimistic, with the unofficial Grey Market Premium (GMP) for the NSE IPO consolidating around ₹142 per share. Measured against the upper price band cap of ₹1,785, the current grey market dynamics project an indicative listing price of roughly ₹1,927 per share, reflecting an estimated listing pop of approximately 7.96 percent. Bounded within a fixed price band of ₹1,700 to ₹1,785 per share, the public offering requires a minimum retail application commitment of ₹14,280 for a single market lot comprising 8 shares. The entire public offering is structured strictly as an Offer for Sale (OFS), with the exchange paring down the aggregate issue size from an earlier planned 148.9 million shares to 126.4 million equity shares, allowing existing institutional shareholders to monetize stakes while listing the bourse exclusively on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on September 24 to avoid conflicting exchange-operator dual listings.

Timeline and Brokerage Verdict: Valuations at 42.9x P/E Divide SBI Securities and Religare

With the subscription window open until Monday, September 21, 2026, registrar protocols are slated to finalize basis of allotment by September 22, followed by unblocking of funds and demat account share credits on September 23. Research desks have presented nuanced investment opinions regarding the offering's financial metrics. Domestic brokerage SBI Securities has recommended a "Subscribe" rating for long-term investors, citing the exchange's dominant monopoly across derivatives and cash market turnover alongside robust technological infrastructure, noting that an annualized FY26 price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 42.9x represents a reasonable entry point for an irreplaceable market infrastructure institution. In contrast, Religare Broking has advised caution, pointing out that while the operational franchise remains peerless, a 42.9x P/E multiple leaves very limited margin of safety should future trading turnovers encounter cyclical downturns. Meanwhile, domestic brokerages Nirmal Bang and Geojit Financial Services reiterated positive long-term outlooks, emphasizing the exchange's wide economic moat, multi-asset dominance, and structural earnings stability.