NSE DRHP likely within 9 months of Sebi NOC: Ashish Chauhan

Ashish Kumar Chauhan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) , on Saturday told Fortune India that the exchange is awaiting a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), to go ahead with its listing plans.

“We need to get a no-objection certificate to even prepare our DRHP,” said Chauhan while speaking at the Fortune India 40 Under 40 Awards in Mumbai today.

In March this year, the NSE had reapplied for a fresh NOC from the Sebi, which would allow the exchange to take further steps towards listing of its shares.

After receiving the NOC from the regulator, it will take roughly 8-9 months to complete the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) and the Sebi approval process, NSE CEO said.

“Once the NOC is received, the process becomes more procedural: it takes about 3-4 months to prepare the DRHP, after which we submit it to Sebi for approval. Sebi then takes another 3-4 months to review and respond. Overall, it’s roughly 8-9 months from the time the NOC is granted,” Chauhan said during a fireside chat with Sourav Majumdar, the Editor-in-Chief of Fortune India, at the event today.

Earlier in April, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, in an exclusive interaction with Fortune India, had said that the regulator is not opposed to NSE’s IPO. “I want to dispel that opinion [that Sebi has been reluctant to allow the IPO]. The BSE is already listed, so there’s no reason why the NSE cannot be listed as well,” he had said.

The NSE IPO is long-awaited as its earlier attempt, back in 2016, was derailed after the bourse got embroiled in the co-location controversy.

NSE had initially filed its IPO document with Sebi in December 2016, and was reportedly looking to raise around ₹10,000 crore. Existing shareholders of NSE, such as U.S. investor Tiger Global Management, Aranda Investments, SAIF Partners (now known as Elevation Capital), Norwest Venture Partners, Citigroup Strategic Holdings, Goldman Sachs, State Bank of India, and others were expected to dilute a 23% stake in the exchange through an offer-for-sale.