Thaindian News

Kolkata, Nov 3 (IANS) The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will launch its Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) exchange this month, a top official of the bourse said.

“We got the final approval from SEBI. We will launch the platform this month,” NSE vice president K. Hari said on the sidelines of a programme organised by FICCI here Wednesday.

NSE received permission from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to start its proposed SME exchange Oct 14. It will be a separate platform within the NSE.

The SMEs would be able to raise equity from the market through the exchange and develop their business.

Hari said a lot of companies have shown interest in the SME platform.

“A lot of companies have shown interest about the SME platform. We are not looking at big numbers of companies to start with… we are looking at small numbers. We have interacted with more than 50 to 60 companies,” he stated.

On the parameters that the companies should have in order to be listed on the SME platform, he said: “If the paid up capital of the company post issue is less than Rs.10 crore, then it can definitely come to the SME platform.

“If the paid up capital is between Rs.10 crore and Rs.25 crore, the company has the choice to come through the main door or to SME platform. If the paid up capital is above Rs.25 crore, the company will have to go to the main door.”

He said typically, the NSE was looking at companies which have a paid up capital of less than Rs.25 crore.

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is already working with NSE to set up the SME exchange.

“A lot of institutions are working together with us. SIDBI and a couple of other institutions are there. It is in the discussion stage,” Hari said.

SEBI has recently cleared a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NSE and Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE).

“Based on the MoU, we will do a lot of things… Slowly things will start. There are some regulatory things we need to comply with,” Hari added.