NSE denies asking government to help IPO

Mumbai

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has strongly denied reports that it asked the Indian government to help solve its problems with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) about its delayed Initial Public Offering (IPO).

On Thursday, NSE posted on social media platform X, saying it never contacted the government for help. It said, “The story is denied by NSE,” and added there was “no correspondence with the Government of India in the last 30 months relating to its IPO.”

This denial came after a news report claimed that NSE had written to the Finance Ministry, asking for help after SEBI rejected NSE’s request for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) in March 2025. The NOC is needed to go ahead with its IPO.

The report said that NSE had contacted the government earlier in 2019, twice in 2020, and again in August 2024. It also claimed that NSE had asked the ministry to talk to SEBI’s new chairman about problems related to leadership choices and governance.

According to the report, SEBI raised concerns about slow Board appointments and how top management was chosen at NSE.

It also claimed NSE disagreed with SEBI’s concerns and said it follows all the rules. NSE also reportedly blamed SEBI for delaying approvals and said the regulator’s decisions were unfair.

The report added that NSE believes SEBI’s actions have hurt it more than its competitor, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

NSE’s statement firmly rejects all these claims.