NSE IPO awaits SEBI nod; options market share rebounds after expiry shift, says business chief

Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer at the NSE detailed a strong pipeline of upcoming products, including approved gold and natural gas futures, and pending approvals for Brent crude and bond futures contracts. Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), says India’s capital markets are entering one of their strongest periods yet, with robust fundraising and a packed IPO pipeline. Amid this momentum, the most anticipated development—the NSE’s own IPO—remains dependent on regulatory clearance. Krishnan reiterates that the exchange is still awaiting approvals from SEBI, which serves as both the industry regulator and the capital markets regulator. The listing, he emphasises, will proceed only after the required nods come through. At the same time, NSE’s operational strength remains intact. Krishnan highlights steady cash market dominance of 93–94% and a sharp recovery in equity options market share—from 76.9% in August 2025 to 87% in November following the shift in weekly expiry. With new contracts such as 10-gram gold futures and Indian natural gas futures ready for launch, and more products under approval, he says NSE is preparing for its next phase of growth even as the IPO wait continues. These are edited excerpts of the interview. Q: Trading volumes have been strong. What everyone is really interested in now is the timeline for NSE’s own IPO. Could you walk us through the background and current status? Have there been any recent developments? A: For NSE, more than our own IPO, it's the existential objective to help other people raise capital. We have done that so effectively in calendar Year 2024, where 268 companies got listed on NSE, raising about $20 billion. This year is no different, the fund mobilisation seems to be quite aggressive, and already we have seen more than 1.1 trillion raised in equity, and about 12.50 trillion raised in bonds. This year, it looks very, very exciting as well, with many, many large IPOs lined up in the next weeks and months. As far as NSE’s IPO is concerned, that's dependent upon the regulatory clearances, and it will happen when it has to happen. Q: Are there any approvals from other agencies that are still pending for the NSE IPO, or are all the requisite approvals already in place? A: Normally, for a company to go public, the regulatory clearances are important, we are waiting for that. Q: These are clearances from SEBI, or any other - I am just trying to understand from a regulatory perspective where things stand? A: The industry regulator has to approve first and then SEBI has to approve. In our case, SEBI is both the industry regulator and the capital markets regulator, so that's what we are waiting for. Q: How is NSE’s market share holding up, especially with BSE gaining traction in the options segment? Could you share the latest market-share numbers for both the cash market and the F&O market? A: In a cash market, our market share continues to be about 93-94% with almost all the large marquee deals happening on NSE, it has been a bit busy so cash is doing well. As far as equity options are concerned, if you look at August 2025 our market share was 76.9% and I am picking August 2025 because effective September 1, 2025 we changed our expiry day for Index options from Thursday to Tuesday. But if you see since then, if you look at November 2025 for example, our market share in equity options has gone up about 10% to 87% so I think the market participants have accepted well to the change of expiry day, from Thursday to Tuesday, and Tuesday seems to be working well for us. Particularly if you look at each of the days as well, we are gaining market share significantly, and that's a good direction to get into. If you look at the other segments as well electricity futures, for example, which we launched in July 2025 our market share is consistently anywhere between 75% and 80% and electricity futures is a great example of how NSE makes products work for the value chain participants. Read Here | NSE Q2 Results | Net profit up 16% QoQ to ₹2,613 crore; total income at ₹4,160 crore Q: So just to clear the air, you are saying that the equity options out there, the change in the weekly expiry has made a difference with your share going from 75% to 87% if I got that number correct? A: Absolutely. 76.9% to 87%, 76.9% in August, 87% in November. Q: As you look ahead into 2026 and beyond, what product innovations any particular segment, which you will focus on to build out as the next growth driver, what should we expect? A: Couple of things that I will highlight here. This is a very important question. In the last couple of years, a number of market participants have been asking us to build more racks in co-location, because most of the players today are technology oriented and want to be present in our co-location. We have moved employees out of the NSE building, and are slowly turning it into a full data centre and. And we have now turned rack surplus, so anybody who wants a rack can immediately get it on demand. So that's one. Secondly, we have approval from the capital markets regulator to launch a few contracts, a couple of contracts, particularly the 10 gram gold futures contract and the Indian natural gas contract. So, the natural gas contract based on Indian prices. So these two are approved and ready to go live. We will announce the launch of these products very soon. Apart from that, we have also applied for the launch of the Brent crude oil contract, which will hopefully get approved soon. We also await approvals for launching corporate bond futures and government bond futures, hopefully these two are interesting and exciting products, given that the specialised investment fund framework has also been launched recently by SEBI and has gone live from many asset managers domestically. So, there are a few products that are coming in, and we can also look for some exciting participation from retail customers in particular. Q: If you could also help us out with any kind of communications from the regulator, because there was that fear that the weekly expiry will be pushed back, there will be some kind of regulations that will come about. Have you heard anything or do you all have a few months now where at least we continue to see the weekly expiry? Just wanted an update on that front? A: On your channel, I saw the SEBI chairperson clearly articulating that, if at all any changes were going to be made that would be based on a consultation paper and due process, etc. We have not seen any consultation paper yet and I think whatever happens will happen after due consultation. Q: Has there been any movement on this front? Has SEBI asked for additional data? We’ve been reporting for months that the outcome may not be as severe as initially expected. Even the SEBI Chairperson recently said that most of the required steps have been taken and the rest will be evaluated over time. From your perspective, is that the correct interpretation? A: On the contrary, many brokers have, in fact, gone and represented to SEBI requesting that Bank Nifty be allowed on Thursday because that used to be the biggest product in the whole world, within the umbrella of equity derivative contracts. The market participants have been missing Bank Nifty for a while now. As an additional weekly expiry, if that's permitted, let's say on Thursdays, that will really help the market. And hopefully, SEBI can permit one more weekly expiry per exchange, and that can, in fact make things even more better for the market participants. If you see the broking revenues, they have gone down almost 50-60% for most of the large brokerages. There are a number of changes we have gone through in the last couple of years, I think its time to recoup and recharge a bit. Q: So, brokers have made representations. You have as well? A: No, we are here to deliver what the market wants. We know that the Broking Industry Association had made a representation, and that's why I refer to that. Q: Have you received any indication from the regulator on timelines for reviewing these proposals, particularly regarding Bank Nifty? Are we looking at a decision in weeks or months, and is there any sense of when they might share their view? A: We are not aware of any specific developments or indications as such after the representation was made, but we know that the broking industry wants one additional weekly expiry per exchange and a possible Bank Nifty to be allowed on Thursday. Q: So, there is a possibility that a second product will be allowed, I am guessing, if at all the regulator is looking at it, it won't be limited to just one exchange, then it will be available to all exchanges to allow a second product. You believe that can happen? A: This is the representation made by the Broking Association. We don't know if the regulator will approve it or not. Q: There are other exchanges looking to sort of launch products, etc. as well. National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) for example, you must have, they have raised two rounds of money. There is one more, the Metropolitan Exchange, how do you see all of it, and any perspective you can share there? A: It's an interesting development. The other exchanges obviously have a big task ahead of them. They have to, obviously do well in the cash equities first to be able to succeed eventually in equity derivatives. I think that was the regulatory thought process as well. So, it will be interesting to see how, they come out with their strategies and try to win market share in this space. India is a growing country, and there's enough space for more exchanges to grow and thrive, and we are very keen to welcome all of them. 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