NSE sellers cut the IPO to about Rs 22,569 crore ahead of a 17 September open

Shareholders in the National Stock Exchange have cut the offer for sale from about 14.89 crore shares to 12,64,36,650 shares. At the Rs 1,785 figure used in market math around the new red herring prospectus, that is an issue of about Rs 22,569 crore, down from the Rs 30,000 crore outline that followed the June draft. The subscription window is 17 to 21 September. Anchors bid on 16 September.

State Bank of India reduced its sale from 2.47 crore shares to 1.6 crore, or about 0.7 percent from 1 percent, and still stands to take about Rs 2,851 crore. SBI Capital Markets, absent from the original draft, will sell about 0.35 percent for about Rs 1,567 crore. Both books bought the stock at a weighted average cost under a rupee. General Insurance Corporation cut 18 basis points and may take about Rs 1,104 crore. Bank of Baroda cut 13 basis points and may take about Rs 1,373 crore. GIC's old average cost was about Rs 5.

MS Strategic (Mauritius), the Morgan Stanley vehicle, cut its planned sale from 1.6 crore shares toward 1.1 crore. Stock Holding Corporation of India went from 1.08 crore to 61.87 lakh. National Insurance went from 60 lakh to 40 lakh. Mahagony Ltd went from 50 lakh to 30 lakh. Indian Bank's planned sale was described in market reports as falling from 2.48 million shares to 1.50 million. Life Insurance Corporation, one of the largest holders, is not in the selling column.

The stated reason inside the market is the price. Participants had talked about a Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,100 band and a valuation above Rs 5 lakh crore. The number now printed against the smaller OFS is lower. Grey market premium on 9 September was about Rs 255, up from Rs 245 the day before and down from Rs 285 on 7 September. Sellers who can wait decided that a listed NSE in 2027 may pay them more than a crowded OFS this month. That is why the issue shrank and why LIC never joined it.

An exchange listing is a rare object. NSE is the matching engine for Indian equity. The sellers are a mix of state banks, state insurers, a central record-keeper and a handful of foreign books that sat on cheap paper for years. Cutting the sale does two things at once. It leaves more of that paper on their own balance sheets. It also reduces the float that new investors can buy on day one. Demand that would have been spread across 14.89 crore shares will now meet 12.64 crore.

SEBI had already cleared the issue. The updated prospectus is the last large paper change before anchors go in on Wednesday. What remains is the band itself and the allocation. If the book builds fast at Rs 1,785, the sellers who cut will look conservative and right. If it does not, the cut will look like a late loss of nerve. Either way the listed share, once it exists, will be the reference price that every unsold stake is marked to. That is the prize LIC kept and that SBI split with its own investment bank.

Monday is a market holiday in Mumbai for Ganesh Chaturthi. The first cash session after the holiday is Tuesday. Anchors follow on Wednesday. The public offer opens Thursday. Four working days will decide whether the smaller OFS was an act of patience or an act of doubt.