Sebi panel recommends NSE pay Rs 1,800 crore to settle legal disputes; IPO filing likely next month

A panel formed by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has recommended that the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) should pay a little over Rs 1,800 crore ($192.5 million) to settle pending legal disputes.

The recommendation could help in solving the long-running dispute of the India's largest equity exchange by volumes with the market regulator. The dispute between the two arises out of allegations of governance lapses by the NSE. The bourse's failure to provide equitable access to all trading members has led to a delay in NSE’s initial public offering (IPO) for nearly 10 years.

According to a Reuters report, the panel considered NSE's proposal to settle past disputes a fortnight ago. The Rs 1,800-crore amount recommended by the panel is more than the Rs 1,300 crore the bourse had reserved late in 2025 to settle pending cases with the SEBI.

SEBI is likely to issue a demand letter to NSE to deposit the money, before an order to finalise the settlement, the Reuters report said.

According to the foreign news agency, SEBI did not respond to a request for comment while an NSE spokesperson declined to comment.

In March, NSE appointed 20 banks as merchant bankers to its IPO, the most for an IPO in India till date. NSE is the country's largest unlisted firm, with 190,000 investors.

These banks sent letters to NSE's current investors inviting them to offload their stake in the offer, with a deadline for expressions of interest on April 27

According to the report, the exchange could file for an IPO by late May after NSE's financial results are announced.