NSDL shares rise 17% on listing day; make investors richer by ₹2,720 crore

After making a solid debut on the BSE today, shares of National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) ended 17% higher at ₹936 apiece, making investors richer by ₹2,720 crore in a single session. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of India’s oldest and largest depository rose to ₹18,720 crore at the end of the day’s trade, with more than 3.7 crore shares changing hands over the counter. NSDL’s market value stood at ₹16,000 crore before its listing.

Shares of NSDL debuted at ₹880 on the BSE, a premium of 10% over the initial public offering (IPO) price of ₹800 apiece, with an m-cap of ₹17,600 crore. After listing, the stock gained as much as 19% to hit an intraday high of ₹943.85 per share, in an otherwise muted broader market.

NSDL’s rival, Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL), saw its shares close at ₹1,544.50 on the NSE, down 1.4%, with an m-cap of ₹32,280 crore. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex declined 166 points to settle at 80,543, while the NSE Nifty closed 0.31% lower at 24,574.

The listing of NSDL was lower than the Street's expectations, as the stock was commanding a grey market premium (GMP) of ₹125 in the unlisted market, indicating a likely listing price of around ₹925, up 15.6% over the issue price of ₹800 apiece.

 “Given NSDL's dominating position in the Indian depository ecosystem, the strong response makes sense from the perspective of long-term investment,” said Nitin Jain, Sr. Research Analyst at Bonanza.

“The IPO is valued at about 47x FY25 earnings, which is reasonable for a business with NSDL's prominence and profile. Strong expected returns of roughly 15-17% were indicated by the fact that NSDL shares were selling at a premium of ₹120-140 over the ₹800 issue price in the grey market,” he explained.

Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika Investmart, said NSDL is expanding its horizon with more value-added services and options. The company posted steady growth in its top and bottom lines. She advised investors to book partial profits near the listing level and retain some shares, possibly with a stop-loss of around ₹850.

NSDL raised ₹4,011.60 crore via the IPO, which was subscribed 41.02 times, receiving bids for more than 144 crore shares worth ₹1.15 lakh crore against 3.51 crore shares offered. The public issue was booked 103.97 times in the qualified institutional buyer (QIB) segment, followed by 34.98 times in the non-institutional investor (NII) segment. The quota reserved for retail investors was booked 7.76 times, while the employee portion was subscribed 15.42 times.

The NSDL IPO was completely an offer for sale of 5.01 crore shares by existing shareholders, including IDBI Bank, NSE, SBI, HDFC Bank, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, and others.

NSDL was established in 1996 with the backing of prominent institutions such as the National Stock Exchange (NSE), IDBI Bank, and Unit Trust of India (UTI), laying the foundation for India’s capital market infrastructure. In 1999, the BSE launched CDSL, a rival to NSDL, transforming the depository landscape into a competitive duopoly.

While NSDL is focussed on large institutional clients, including foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), custodians, and mutual funds, CDSL dominates the retail investor segment, thanks to deep integrations with brokers and fintech platforms.

As of March 2025, NSDL handled a far larger chunk of high-value securities, managing ₹464 lakh crore in assets under custody (AUC) through a network of 65,391 depository participants’ service centres. In comparison, CDSL handles ₹70.52 lakh crore in assets under custody via 18,918 such centres.

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