NSE exchange files for long-awaited IPO

MUMBAI (Reuters) - National Stock Exchange (NSE), India's largest bourse, filed an application for an initial public offering on Wednesday, laying the ground for what could be India's biggest listing since 2010.

The NSE has filed the so-called draft red herring prospectus with the capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, an exchange spokesman said.

Bankers had previously said the NSE could raise as much as $1 billion in a listing, making it potentially India's biggest since Coal India raised $3.5 billion in an IPO in 2010, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Smaller rival BSE Ltd, formerly Bombay Stock Exchange, filed its application in September for an IPO expected to raise around $150 million, but it has not yet been given the go-ahead.

Both IPOs come at a time when emerging markets have been under pressure as global investors have shifted funds towards the United States, though NSE Chairman Ashok Chawla sought to downplay concerns about the timing.

"In my view, there is no bad time for a good issue," Chawla told Reuters in an interview earlier this month.

NSE needs to appoint a new chief executive to replace previous head Chitra Ramkrishna, who unexpectedly resigned last month, citing personal reasons.

NSE's listing is expected to be one of the most high profile in 2017. Indian companies raised more than $3.7 billion from IPOs this year, the most in six years, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Some stakeholders accused the exchange earlier this year of moving too slowly, the company then committed to file an application for a listing by January.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy; Editing by Rafael Nam and Alexandra Hudson)