Abul Hasan | THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA COM|
From witnessing India’s capital markets at one of their most turbulent moments to standing at the threshold of a historic public listing of the National Stock Exchange, Ashishkumar Chauhan’s professional journey mirrors the extraordinary transformation of India’s financial markets.

“With an experience spanning over three decades…” Chauhan could potentially witness his fifth IPO as a business leader if NSE goes public later this year—a milestone that would place him in a unique position in India’s capital-market history.

Known widely as the “Father of Derivatives” in India, Chauhan was among the founding team members of NSE. His association with the institution dates back to its formative years, when India was beginning to rethink the architecture, technology and transparency of its securities market.

His journey has also given him the distinction of being the only individual to have served as MD & CEO of both of India’s premier stock exchanges—NSE and BSE.

An extraordinary IPO track record

Chauhan’s record of being associated with companies and institutions at the time of their public listings is remarkable.

In February 2017, BSE made its stock-market debut, with Chauhan serving as its MD & CEO. He had taken charge of BSE in 2012 and continued in the leadership role until 2022.

Four months later, in June 2017, CDSL was listed. At the time, BSE, under Chauhan’s leadership, held a 50% stake in CDSL, linking him once again to another landmark capital-market listing.

In November 2023, Protean eGov Technologies made its public-market debut. Chauhan was then leading NSE as MD & CEO, while NSE held around 20% in Protean at the time of its IPO.

The sequence continued in August 2025, when NSDL was listed. NSE, under Chauhan’s leadership, held around 24% in NSDL at the time of its IPO.

If NSE completes its own IPO during the remaining period of Chauhan’s current tenure, the achievement would become even more extraordinary: he could potentially be the only appointed CEO in India to have seen five IPOs unfold under his leadership or institutional stewardship.

From market turmoil to market transformation

He has witnessed the Indian capital market through some of its most defining chapters.

The year 1992 was a watershed moment for Indian finance. The Harshad Mehta securities scam exposed deep structural weaknesses in the market and triggered a fundamental rethink of the way securities trading and market institutions functioned.

It was in that same year that the idea of NSE was conceptualised.

Chauhan was present at this formative stage—close to what can be described as ground zero of the transformation that followed.

From an era of open-outcry trading and fragmented market practices, India moved towards screen-based trading, electronic connectivity, derivatives, dematerialisation, modern clearing and settlement systems and increasingly sophisticated capital-market infrastructure.

Chauhan’s career has traversed virtually the entire arc of this transformation.

A journey coming full circle

The potential NSE IPO therefore carries a significance that is personal as well as institutional for Chauhan.

He was part of the founding journey of an exchange that was conceived in the aftermath of one of the biggest crises in India’s securities market. Decades later, as the institution approaches the possibility of becoming a publicly listed company, he could find himself once again at a defining moment in its history.

The contrast is striking.

In 1992, India was confronting the vulnerabilities of its capital-market architecture. Today, NSE stands among the country’s most prominent financial-market institutions, with a pivotal role in equity trading, derivatives and the broader capital-market ecosystem.

For Chauhan, the journey from NSE’s founding years to the threshold of its IPO represents more than three decades of evolution.

It is a journey from crisis to reform, from physical trading floors to digital markets, and from the conceptualisation of a new exchange to the possibility of seeing that very institution enter the public markets.

And if NSE does cross that threshold during his tenure, Ashishkumar Chauhan’s already remarkable IPO record could acquire a distinction that would be difficult to replicate.

Five IPOs. Two stock exchanges. One extraordinary journey through the making of modern Indian capital markets.

Source: Based on a LinkedIn post by Rahul Mathur.

Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available information and a LinkedIn post by Rahul Mathur. TNI has independently presented the information for editorial purposes.

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