No, National Securities Depository Limited or NSDL is not a government company but a public limited company in the private sector. Its major shareholders include National Stock Exchange, IDBI Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and SUUTI. Founded in the year 1996, NSDL is one of the largest depositories in the world which handles most of the securities held and settled in dematerialised or electronic form in the Indian market. It provides services to investors, stock brokers, custodians and issuer companies through a network of depository participants and digital platforms.

NSDL operates under the regulatory oversight of SEBI, under the overall jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. However, its ownership is private and not controlled by the government.

Company History

National Securities Depository Limited was established in the year 1996 as India’s first central securities depository to hold securities in electronic form. It was formed under the provisions of Depositories Act, 1995. The company was promoted by leading financial institutions like National Stock Exchange, IDBI Bank and Unit Trust of India.

NSDL pioneered dematerialisation in India, converting physical share certificates to electronic form. The number of demat accounts with NSDL crossed 100,000 mark in November 1998. By December 2002, this figure had crossed 50 lakh. NSDL rapidly expanded its network of depository participants and service centres in the early 2000s. It also introduced user-friendly digital services like internet-based transaction facility, online demat account access, e-voting platforms and more.

In October 2021, the value of securities held in dematerialised form at NSDL crossed INR 300 lakh crore. NSDL went public through an IPO in July 2025 for sale of shares worth INR 4,012 crore. The shares were listed on BSE on 6^th August 2025.

Current Status

NSDL plays a key role in the Indian financial market by facilitating secure and efficient storage and transfer of securities, without the need for physical certificates. Centralised Account Statement, a comprehensive digital platform developed by NSDL, provides a consolidated view of all the investment holdings of an individual investor at a single location. The company also provides a number of other services like electronic allotment of public issues, efficient divided distribution, automatic delivery of instructions and more.

As of 31^st December 2025, NSDL holds 4,31,85,189 investor accounts, with a demat custody value of INR 529.67 lakh crore. The number of DP service centres stand at 56,858.

Future Outlook

NSDL is well positioned for long-term growth, driven by rising retail investor participation, increasing financialisation of savings, expanding demat penetration and deepening digitisation.