NSE vs BSE: Revenue, Profit and Growth Before the NSE IPO

The NSE vs BSE contest is about to be repriced, with NSE’s long-awaited IPO filed and a listing targeted before the end of 2026. NSE posted a consolidated net profit of ₹10,302 crore in FY26, more than four times BSE’s ₹2,487.25 crore. Both exchanges closed the year with their strongest quarters yet, but the gap on revenue, profit and global derivatives dominance still belongs to NSE.

The FY26 Scorecard

NSE’s revenue from operations climbed to ₹16,601 crore in FY26, up from ₹14,780 crore in FY24, per the company’s DRHP and NSE’s archive of annual reports. Its full-year profit after tax fell 15% YoY to ₹10,302 crore, down from the FY25 peak of ₹12,188 crore, partly hit by tighter SEBI rules on equity derivatives trading that clipped the transaction-fee line. BSE, listed on NSE, ran in the opposite direction.

Its full-year net profit rose 88% YoY to ₹2,487.25 crore on revenue from operations of ₹5,148 crore, the highest in BSE’s 150-year history, per the DRHP and reporting by Angel One and Venture Securities. The Q4 numbers compress the same story. NSE’s consolidated total income rose 22% YoY and 27% QoQ to ₹5,360 crore, with operating EBITDA of ₹3,633 crore at a 73% margin, per the NSE Q4 FY26 consolidated press release. Q4 profit after tax came in at ₹2,871 crore, up 8% YoY, and BSE’s Q4 FY26 net profit hit ₹797 crore, up 61% YoY, on revenue from operations of ₹1,564 crore, up 85% YoY. BSE’s quarterly transaction charges alone, at ₹1,311 crore, were 114% higher than the year-ago quarter and accounted for most of the surge, and the exchange declared a final dividend of ₹10 per share for FY26, with a record date of July 10, 2026, per Angel One.

Where the Two Exchanges Make Their Money

NSE’s revenue base is anchored in transaction fees on its derivatives franchise, which the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) says handled 36.99 billion contracts in FY26, including NSE International Exchange (NSEIX). That makes it the world’s largest equity derivatives exchange by contract volume. Listing fees, market-data subscriptions, clearing and settlement income, and co-location services fill out the rest, per the DRHP. The bulk of the cash business also sits with NSE, which the WFE ranks as the largest exchange in India by total cash market turnover and the third-largest globally by number of cash equity trades.

BSE’s growth came from the same lane. Its transaction-charge revenue, at ₹1,311 crore in Q4 FY26, made up most of the quarter’s revenue, per Angel One.

The mix matters because it tells investors which exchange is geared to which cycle. NSE’s transaction-fee base is the largest in the world for equity derivatives, but it is also the part SEBI clamped down on with tighter rules on weekly expiries and position limits, which is one reason the FY26 PAT slipped 15% YoY. BSE’s transaction-charge jump of 114% YoY in Q4 FY26 was the reward for capturing share in the same derivatives market that NSE was getting throttled in. The story across both sets of books is the same: more trading, more fees, more profit, but NSE is the larger pool and BSE is the faster tap, and NSE’s tech infrastructure processed an average of 12 to 14 billion messages per day as of March 2026, per the DRHP, a load the smaller exchange does not carry.

• 36.99 billion contracts traded on NSE in FY26, world’s largest equity derivatives exchange, per the WFE
• ₹1,311 crore: BSE Q4 FY26 transaction charges, up 114% YoY
• 12 to 14 billion messages: NSE’s daily technology load, per the DRHP
• ₹40 crore: BSE Q4 FY26 treasury income, down 9% YoY

The Market Share Map

Volume is where NSE’s dominance shows up most clearly. In 2025, NSE handled 93% to 98% of India’s equity derivatives volumes and around 85% to 90% of cash equities, per Venture Securities. That grip is the reason the exchange’s transaction-fee base is the deepest in the country.

The BSE share of the same pie was small for years, but a 2025 shift in expiry timing rewrote the picture. After NSE moved its weekly index expiry to Tuesday, BSE set the Sensex expiry for Thursday, splitting the trading week across the two venues. By April 2026, the option premium turnover split had NSE at 66% and BSE at 34%, per Venture Securities. In notional futures and options volumes, BSE actually held the larger share, 55% to NSE’s 44.6%, a rare inversion in the smaller exchange’s favour.

The list of companies still leans BSE’s way by count, even as NSE’s mainboard dominates turnover. BSE, founded in 1875, predates NSE’s 1992 launch and remains the home of the benchmark Sensex, the 30-stock large-cap gauge that was India’s first market index. NSE’s Nifty 50 came later and is the more widely tracked benchmark today, with the two indices tracking different companies and weights, which is why many Indian brokers default to one or the other.

NSE’s tech infrastructure logged its highest-ever cumulative trading day on June 4, 2024, with 293.85 million trades across segments. That scale is what BSE is competing against, and the gap is still wide.

Inside the NSE IPO Structure

The NSE IPO is structured entirely as an offer for sale (OFS), and no fresh capital is being raised by the company itself. Per the DRHP, the sale covers up to 14.89 crore equity shares with a face value of ₹1 each, representing about 6% of NSE’s paid-up equity capital. The total issue size is estimated at roughly ₹30,000 crore, based on the unlisted share price of ₹1,950-2,170 per share, making it one of the largest public issues in Indian history. Seven public-sector entities are selling part of their holdings through the OFS, together holding about 7.97 crore shares per the DRHP, and NSE’s shares will list on BSE, a mirror of the arrangement under which BSE’s own shares trade on NSE. Investors looking at similar all-OFS structures can read how recent India IPOs route all cash to selling shareholders for context.

The seven PSUs divesting are State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), New India Assurance, National Insurance Company, and United India Insurance Company. Several large shareholders are staying put, including Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the single-largest holder with a 10.72% stake, Premji Invest at 2.35%, and investor Radhakishan Damani at 1.58%. SBI and SBI Capital Markets together hold nearly 7.5% of the company, per Venture Securities.

NSE’s valuation is the number on everyone’s mind. The unlisted shares trade at ₹1,950-2,170, putting the implied valuation at around ₹5 lakh crore, against BSE’s market cap of ₹1,64,028 crore at a share price of ₹4,027, per BSE’s live quote page on NSE.

The BSE Acceleration

BSE’s FY26 is the strongest in the exchange’s 150-year history, and most of the new business came from the same derivatives pool that NSE was getting squeezed on. Average daily notional turnover of equity derivatives hit ₹245 trillion in FY26, more than double the ₹112 trillion of the prior year, per Venture Securities. BSE’s registered investor base stood at 24.8 crore at year-end.

BSE’s cash equity business, the smaller of the two, was the laggard. The exchange’s equity cash segment posted an average daily turnover of ₹7,950 crore for the year, per Angel One. Listing services revenue fell 5% YoY to ₹119 crore in Q4 FY26, and treasury income dropped 9% YoY to ₹40 crore. That mix explains the rest of the year, because when derivatives volume doubled, the transaction-charge line tripled, and the smaller lines faded into the background.

The valuation gap is now the more interesting comparison. At the unlisted price of ₹1,950-2,170, NSE trades near 45x FY26 earnings, per Bonanza analyst Nitant Darekar. BSE, at its current price of ₹4,027, trades at a P/E of 66.0, per Screener. That makes BSE more expensive on earnings by a wide margin, with the smaller exchange’s P/E of 66.0 sitting well above NSE’s implied 45x and even higher than MCX at around 80x, though the absolute earnings base behind each multiple is very different. On listing day, the market will set a public price for NSE, and the two quotes will sit side by side for the first time.

BSE is the smaller, faster-growing, more expensive stock; NSE is the larger, more diversified, still-monopoly business with a one-time listing event ahead.

• 88%: BSE’s FY26 net profit growth YoY
• ₹245 trillion: BSE’s average daily notional derivatives turnover in FY26
• 24.8 crore: BSE’s registered investor base
• ₹797 crore: BSE Q4 FY26 net profit, up 61% YoY

A Decade of Roadblocks Cleared

NSE first filed a DRHP for an IPO in December 2016, targeting a ₹10,000-crore issue. The filing was shelved almost immediately after the co-location controversy, in which certain brokers were alleged to have had preferential access to NSE’s servers. SEBI’s disgorgement order in the matter was overturned by the Securities Appellate Tribunal in early 2024. In June 2025, NSE filed a ₹1,387.39-crore settlement application covering both the co-location and dark fibre cases. On February 6, 2026, SEBI issued a No-Objection Certificate, formally opening the door to the listing, with the DRHP following shortly after. Bonanza analyst Nitant Darekar said the settlement removed a key overhang that had weighed on the listing process for years.

He sees NSE continuing to command premium valuations as a ‘capital-light near-monopoly’ in the unlisted market. The IPO, he added, may well price below where the grey market values it. The filing moves the long-running NSE IPO to the calendar, and the gap with BSE will be repriced when NSE’s shares first trade.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will NSE list its shares?

The DRHP is filed with SEBI and the board approved the offer on February 6, 2026. Market estimates point to a listing by the end of 2026, though no official date has been announced. The IPO is a pure offer for sale, with the company itself raising no fresh capital.

How big is the NSE IPO and what is the offer structure?

Up to 14.89 crore equity shares are on the block, about 6% of NSE’s paid-up equity capital. At the unlisted price range of ₹1,950-2,170, the OFS would raise roughly ₹30,000 crore, putting it among the largest public issues India has seen.

How does NSE’s valuation compare to BSE’s?

NSE’s implied valuation is around ₹5 lakh crore in the unlisted market, while BSE’s listed market cap is ₹1,64,028 crore per Screener. On earnings, NSE trades near 45x FY26, BSE at 66x and MCX around 80x, per Bonanza analyst Nitant Darekar.

Who is selling shares in the NSE IPO?

SBI leads the list of seven public-sector sellers divesting through the offer for sale, per the DRHP. The full set includes Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India, GIC, New India Assurance, National Insurance Company, and United India Insurance Company. LIC, Premji Invest and Radhakishan Damani are keeping their stakes.

What is NSE’s market share in Indian derivatives and cash trading?

NSE’s grip is tightest in derivatives, where it handled 93% to 98% of Indian volumes in 2025, per Venture Securities. The cash equity share was 85% to 90%. By April 2026, BSE had closed part of the gap, reaching 34% of option premium turnover and 55% of notional futures and options volumes.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks. Please read all related documents carefully and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Figures are accurate as of publication on June 18, 2026.