The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday granted permission to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to launch the much awaited Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Exchange.
“This is a great boost to BSE's efforts in offering multiple asset classes to Indian investors. We are doing our bit to contribute towards the governmental agenda of greater financial inclusion and allowing promising enterprises of the future to access retail capital,” said BSE Managing Director and CEO Madhu Kannan.
He said the BSE was committed to deliver the best products, services, and asset classes to all our stakeholders and look forward to the success of the SME segment. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have always complained of difficulty in accessing both debt and equity capital.
While the government has taken several measures to ease access to credit, giving them easier access to equity is the next step in that process. The new exchange will be a facilitator in raising funds for SMEs.
Past few months, BSE SME Exchange has conducted several seminars for educating the SMEs on the benefits of listing and the preparations required for listing on the BSE SME Platform across the country. BSE SME has tied up with channel partners, who include various institutions and associations engaged in the development of SMEs. More seminars are lined up in this year.
Additionally, BSE SME has planned for sectoral seminars for auto ancillaries, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, agro-based industries, suppliers to OEMS and the like. It is also planning to take the SME cluster approach in the development of the SME segment.
So far, the exchange stated, BSE SME has received response from various sectors, including agro-based industry, manufacturing, textiles, IT and construction. A number of merchant bankers are also optimistic about the initiative, BSE added.
