
National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), India’s oldest and largest securities depository by assets under custody, is ready to make a significant market debut with its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for July 2025. The IPO is planning to raise around $400 million (approximately ₹3,400 crore), marking a pivotal moment for India’s capital market infrastructure and is expected to draw strong interest from both institutional and retail investors.
The NSDL IPO will comprise an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 50.1 million shares with no new shares being issued. Instead existing shareholders including IDBI Bank, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC and Union Bank will offload part of their holdings. IDBI Bank the largest shareholder with a 26.1% stake will be offloading up to 22.22 million shares while NSE will sell up to 18 million shares from its 24% holdings. The proceeds from the IPO will go entirely to these selling shareholders; NSDL itself will not receive any funds from the issue.
The IPO is being managed by a consortium of top financial institutions: ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, HSBC Holdings and IDBI Capital. The final price band for the shares will be announced closer to the launch date.
Founded in 1996, NSDL has played a transformative role in India’s financial markets by pioneering the dematerialisation of securities. Before NSDL, India’s capital markets were struggling with issues such as bad deliveries and delayed transfers due to paper-based settlements. NSDL’s electronic platform revolutionized the space, ensuring secure, efficient and transparent handling of securities. Today, NSDL holds and settles the majority of securities in dematerialized form in India with over 3.91 crore active demat accounts as of February 2025.
NSDL’s services extend beyond basic depository functions. It offers account maintenance, e-voting, corporate action processing and facilitates securities lending and borrowing which are vital to the smooth operation of the country’s financial ecosystem. Its closest competitor, Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) is already listed on Indian stock exchanges, making NSDL’s IPO a significant event for market watchers and investors alike.
NSDL has demonstrated consistent growth in its financials. In FY25, its revenue from operations rose to ₹1,535 crore, up from ₹1,365 crore in FY24. The consolidated net profit for FY25 stood at ₹343 crore, marking a 24.6% increase over the previous year. A key contributor to this growth has been NSDL Payments Bank (NPBL), its subsidiary, which offers digital banking solutions, remittance services and prepaid card operations. NPBL processed ₹5,934 crore via prepaid cards in the nine months ending December 2024 and has become India’s second-largest provider of micro-ATMs, with over 300,000 devices deployed.
The NSDL IPO is expected to be closely watched, not only because of the company’s foundational role in India’s capital markets but also due to the broader momentum in Indian IPO activity in 2025. The listing will provide investors with a rare opportunity to own a stake in a business that underpins the country’s rapidly expanding securities market.
Eligible employees are expected to receive a reservation portion and may benefit from potential discounts on the offer price, further broadening the appeal of the IPO. With robust financials, a dominant market position and a critical role in India’s financial infrastructure, NSDL’s public offering is poised to be one of the most significant capital market events of the year.
NSDL’s upcoming IPO represents a landmark in India’s financial sector, offering public investors access to a company that has been central to the modernization and stability of the country’s capital markets. As the IPO prepares to open in July 2025, all eyes will be on NSDL’s performance and the response from the investing public, which could set the tone for future listings in the sector.
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