Profit, governance will trump hype despite IPO rush, says NSE chief

MUMBAI: India’s capital markets will stay anchored to profitability, transparency and strong corporate governance, even as the country rides a wave of initial public offerings, Ashish Kumar Chauhan, ceo of the National Stock Exchange, said on Tuesday.

Speaking at IPO Baatcheet, a special programme hosted by the Startup Policy Forum, Chauhan said Indian public markets are fundamentally different from more risk-tolerant global peers, with both institutional and retail investors placing a premium on sustainable business models and investor protection. “Broadly speaking, India is about profitability, about transparency and about better corporate governance,” he said.

Trust, Chauhan argued, is the currency of public markets, and governance its backbone. With retail participation deepening rapidly, he warned that even small lapses can have outsized consequences. “It’s like a pond out of which we all drink. It’s easy to destroy that trust, but very difficult to build,” he said.

Addressing founders and promoters of listed companies, Chauhan urged restraint and responsibility in handling public capital. When faced with grey areas, he said, decisions should favour minority shareholders over insiders. “Even if something is legally allowed, don’t do it if morally it is not correct,” he said, pointing to the need to reduce information and power asymmetries.

He also pushed back against the idea of new-age IPOs as guaranteed wealth creators, cautioning that true value will only emerge over one-, two- and five-year horizons after listing. Public markets, he said, reward fundamentals and governance, not hype.

India’s growing retail base reflects rising confidence in markets, Chauhan noted. The NSE now has more than 12 crore unique investors, representing nearly 25 per cent of Indian households. But with participation comes responsibility. “Stock market is not a game,” he said, warning against greed-driven speculation and unrealistic expectations.

On derivatives, Chauhan delivered a blunt message to retail investors: stay away unless fully aware of the risks. “If you don’t know the risks associated, you should not come into the derivatives market,” he said, adding that such instruments are meant for trained participants with the capacity to absorb losses.

Chauhan also highlighted the exchange’s technological muscle, noting that NSE can process up to 60 lakh orders per second, operates at microsecond speeds moving towards nanoseconds, and has strengthened cyber resilience. He cited episodes where the exchange faced as many as 40 crore cyber attacks within 20 minutes.

The discussion was part of Startup Policy Forum’s effort to prepare new-age companies for life in public markets. Shweta Rajpal Kohli, ceo and president of SPF, said the forum is setting up a Centre for New-Age Public Companies to support founders before and after listing, offering institutional guidance and capacity building.

As IPOs multiply and retail money floods in, Chauhan’s message was unmistakable: in India’s markets, discipline beats dazzle — every time.