2026 IPO pipeline: Jio, NSE and PhonePe - Check key new issues likely over next 6 months

Some of India’s most popular brands are set to enter the stock market this year. Jio Platforms, PhonePe and NSE are some of the most anticipated issues that the street is looking forward to. Official timelines for these IPOs are yet to be announced. However, the recent developments indicate that the wait could be becoming shorter. Here is a quick look at what we know about these upcoming issues so far – Jio Platforms IPO Jio Platforms, the fifth-generation (5G) solutions provider within the Reliance group is preparing to open its public offering. However, the next steps depend largely on regulatory clarity. The company is waiting for the government’s final notification on the changes proposed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for very large companies planning to go public. These recommendations, announced in September, were aimed at easing IPO norms for firms with extremely large market capitalisation. Under the revised framework, companies valued above Rs 1 lakh crore would need to dilute only 2.75% of equity at the time of listing, compared with the earlier requirement of 5%. For firms valued above Rs 5 lakh crore, the minimum dilution would fall further to 2.5%. SEBI has also allowed such companies up to 10 years to meet the mandatory 25% public shareholding requirement. During a recent earnings call, Jio Platforms Head of Strategy, Anshuman Thakur, said the company is already working internally on the IPO process but is awaiting final clarity. “The Jio IPO, internally we are working on it, of course, we are awaiting the new notification to come from the government to see what the final details are going to be,” he said. He added that while the company expects the final rules to broadly align with SEBI’s recommendations, it cannot formally move ahead until the notification is issued. At present, Jio Platforms is targeting a listing in the first half of 2026. That said, the company has not announced any exact timeline for the issue. NSE IPO The National Stock Exchange’s IPO was first proposed in 2016 and the listing has faced repeated delays due to regulatory scrutiny and governance-related concerns. Nearly a decade later, the process appears to be inching forward again. As per multiple reports, the recent developments indicate that SEBI is at an advanced stage of issuing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the NSE IPO. If granted, this would remove one of the biggest hurdles that has kept the exchange away from the public markets for years. NSE had originally filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus in December 2016, with plans to raise around Rs 10,000 crore through an offer for sale by existing shareholders. However, the plan was put on hold following the co-location controversy. This involved allegations that certain high-frequency traders received unfair access to NSE’s trading systems. Further, in October 2024, NSE settled the Trading Access Point Architecture and Network Connectivity case by paying a penalty of Rs 643 crore to SEBI. Thereafter, NSE has made several internal changes. These changes include reshaping senior management roles to closing pending regulatory matters. Despite the recent progress, the exchange has not yet disclosed when its IPO will actually hit the market. PhonePe IPO Digital payments platform PhonePe is also preparing for a public listing. Backed by investors such as Walmart, General Atlantic, Tiger Global and Microsoft, PhonePe’s IPO is expected to value the company at around $15 billion. The issue will be entirely an offer for sale of 50 million shares by existing shareholders, following a confidential filing made in September 2024. As per the draft documents, Walmart, through WM Digital Commerce Holdings, plans to sell up to 45.9 million shares. Microsoft and Tiger Global are expected to divest around 3.67 million and 1 million shares, respectively. For the IPO, PhonePe has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, JP Morgan India, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley as book-running lead managers. PhonePe has not yet announced the exact date for its public issue. Other key IPOs to watch Apart from these three names, several other big companies are also in the lineup for possible listings in 2026. These include Flipkart, OYO, SBI Mutual Fund, Hero FinCorp, Zepto and boAt are among those exploring IPO plans. Conclusion The IPOs are expected to open this year but the timelines remain fluid. Market conditions, regulatory approvals and company-level decisions will ultimately determine which of these listings materialise and when.