Sebi agrees to NSE settlements in colo & dark-fibre cases | Finance News

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has agreed in-principle to the terms of settlement on applications by the IPO-bound National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) in the colocation (colo) and dark-fibre matters, clearing the long overhang of the legal and alleged governance issues.

 

According to the exchange’s financial result documents, the market regulator in a letter dated July 30 has agreed in-principle to accept the terms of the settlement.

 

“Sebi vide email dated July 30, 2026 has in principle agreed to accept the terms of the settlement and has made a demand of Rs 714.74 crore, in addition to the deposit of Rs 776.47 crore made by NSE with Sebi, which will be adjusted towards the settlement amount of Rs 1,491.21 crore,” notes the document.

 
 

The exchange’s board in its meeting on Thursday approved the payment of Rs 714.74 crore as per the terms.  

 

The exchange had filed two separate settlement applications for Rs 1,387.39 crore in June 2025 with Sebi under the Settlement Regulations for orders in colo and dark-fibre matters.

 

The colo issue pertains to allegations that certain brokers received preferential server access at NSE between 2015 and 2016.

 

In March this year, the exchange had filed revised settlement terms for Rs 1,491.21 crore with Sebi.

 

Meanwhile, the exchange’s consolidated net profit rose to Rs 3,120 crore in the quarter ended June 2026 (Q1FY27), up from Rs 2,923.85 crore in the year-ago period.

 

NSE’s revenue from operations also increased to Rs 4,560 crore in Q1FY27, up from Rs 4,032 crore a year ago. However, on a sequential basis, the revenue has declined by 8 per cent.

 

The exchange filed its draft document with Sebi last month for an offer for sale. The IPO will comprise up to 148.9 million equity shares of face value ₹1 each or nearly 6 per cent of NSE’s paid-up capital, with no fresh issue component, meaning the exchange itself will not receive any proceeds from the offering. Instead, all funds raised will go to the selling shareholders.

 

The IPO size is pegged to be over Rs 30,000 crore, based on the market capitalisation of the exchange in the unlisted market—making it the largest IPO ever in the country. In comparison, Hyundai India had raised nearly Rs 28,000 crore via IPO in 2024.

 

NSE’s contribution to the exchequer (including collections and payments) in Q1FY27 was Rs 20,579 crore which comprised STT/CTT of Rs 18,313 crore, stamp duty of Rs 980 crore, GST of Rs 657 crore, income tax of Rs 373 crore, and Sebi fees of Rs 256 crore.