National Stock Exchange of India filed draft papers for a long awaited initial public offering, setting up what could become one of the country’s largest listings and a major test for India’s quiet equity capital market.

The IPO will consist entirely of existing shares, with as many as 148.9 million shares on offer, representing about 6% of the company. No new shares will be issued.

Selling shareholders include State Bank of India, General Insurance Corp of India, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and other institutional backers. The structure means proceeds will go to existing investors rather than NSE itself.

The filing marks a major step for the operator of India’s largest exchange after nearly a decade of delays. NSE first pursued a listing in 2016, but the plan stalled after allegations of corporate governance lapses and unfair market access raised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

NSE received regulatory clearance earlier this year to restart IPO preparations. The company later filed settlement applications tied to the long running case, proposing to pay close to 13 billion rupees to resolve the matter.

The deal would bring a major listing back to India’s IPO market after a slower start to the year. Indian IPOs have raised about $3.5 billion so far in 2026, well below the pace of the previous two years, when annual proceeds topped $20 billion.

NSE’s listing could help reset sentiment for large Indian offerings. The exchange sits at the center of the country’s capital markets, with strong transaction revenue, deep derivatives activity and a broad investor base.

The filing also creates a liquidity event for major shareholders. Life Insurance Corp. of India holds a 10.72% stake in NSE, while Temasek owns about 4.5%. SBI Capital Markets held about 4.5% as of March 31, 2026, while State Bank of India owned about 3.2%.

NSE has appointed 20 banks to work on the IPO, including Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Citi and JPMorgan.

The listing will now move through the regulatory review process. If completed, it would give public market investors access to one of India’s most important financial infrastructure companies while ending one of the country’s longest running IPO waits.