National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) has received approval from securities markets Sebi for its initial public offering (IPO). NSDL handles most of the securities held and settled in dematerialised form in the Indian capital market.

According to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed on July 7, 2023, the NSDL IPO will be a pure OFS (offer for sale) with NSE. In August 2023, Sebi had put the DRHP in abeyance. The markets regulator may pause any IPO in case of an ongoing investigation or if any requested information is delayed.

The OFS will see sales of 5.73 crore shares by NSDL’s six shareholders — IDBI, NSE, SBI, HDFC Bank and Union Bank of India.

IDBI Bank is planning to sell its stake. IDBI Bank will sell up to 2.22 million shares, while NSE will sell 1.8 crore shares it owns in the depository.

Union Bank of India will sell 5.62 million shares, and State Bank of India, and Administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) will sell 4 million and 3.4 million shares, respectively. The sixth shareholder participating in the IPO is HDFC Bank.

SDL, which was established in August 1996, has established itself as a state-of-the-art infrastructure that handles most of the securities held and settled in dematerialised form in the Indian capital market. Though India had a vibrant capital market that is more than a century old, the paper-based settlement of trades caused substantial problems like bad delivery and delayed transfer of title, etc.

NSDL’s rival CDSL is already listed on the stock exchanges.

CDSL are currently trading at Rs 1,350 apiece on the BSE.