15/08/2026
India’s biggest stock exchange almost never launched.
Welcome to The Money Stories of Mumbai, where every landmark has a money story, and today, we are at the NSE.
In 1994, the National Stock Exchange was preparing to launch India’s first electronic trading network. But just before the launch, the giant satellite antenna powering the entire system got stuck at Mumbai Port because of a customs strike. Then came the Surat plague, disrupting the installation of satellite terminals across the country.
Despite it all, the NSE launched on 3rd November 1994, forever changing how India traded stocks.
Today, every Nifty 50 data feed and every clearing transaction generates revenue for the exchange. In FY26 alone, it reported nearly ₹19,000 crore in revenue and over ₹10,000 crore in profit.
And now, after years of regulatory delays, the company that changed how India invests is finally preparing to let India invest in it through its own IPO.
Maybe that’s the real story.
The exchange that democratized investing... is finally becoming an investment itself.