October 15, 2012

Press Release No. 1

NSE organises Investothon in Indore to grow the equity cult

After a series of successful investor runs in different metros in India, India’s leading stock exchange, the National Stock Exchange, took the Investothon initiative to a prominent tier two city, Indore, on the 14^th of October. The Investothon was organized in partnership with the CNBC TV 18 group. Indore is often referred to as the mini Mumbai, because of the rapid commercial and industrial growth in this city. Through the Investothon, NSE is trying to create awareness on the need to invest in productive assets for financial well-being and a more secure future.

The Investothon at Indore was organized at the Abhay Prashul Stadium on the landmark race course road. It was flagged off in the presence of Mr Kailash Vijayvargiya, Minister for Commerce, Industry, Employment & Information Technology Madhya Pradesh Government, Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan, Member of Parliament, Indore, Mrs. Anuradha Shankar, IG, Mr. Aakash Tripathi, Collector, Indore .The people of Indore turned out in large numbers to attend the run for safe investing. The event was also attended by Corporates, investor associations and a large number of NSE officials.

There were three races in the Investothon, each of which was denoted by a different colour and name depending on the distance of the run. The first, a two kilometres race was represented by the colour Red, denoting 'Power'. The second race, a distance of three kilometres was represented by the colour Yellow, denoting 'Health' and the final lap of the symbolic run of four kilometres, represented the colour Green, denoting 'Wealth'.

Identified as one of the 36 cities which will shape India’s future, Indore has seen remarkable growth in the last few decades. Proximity to the Maharashtra border has encouraged many industries to set up base here, as a result textile manufacturing and trading, real estate and the IT industry have grown rapidly. The nearby Pithampur special economic zone is in fact called the Detroit of India, because of the presence of large domestic and global auto companies.

Joint Managing Director of NSE, Ms Chitra Ramkrishna said, “Although Indore has become a major commercial hub, investors in Indore still invest largely in fixed income instruments. We are trying to create awareness among investors, on the need to invest in more productive assets, which can give good returns, without exposing them to high risk’’

CEO, CNBC TV18 & CNBC Awaaz, Mr. Anil Uniyal said, “CNBC-TV18 has evolved as one of the most trusted mediums to guide Indian investors and member brokers in their investment planning and also help them in managing their investment portfolio. Through ‘Investothon 2012’ and our partnership with NSE, we would like to spread the message of investor empowerment and strengthen their confidence.”

NSE has been trying to create awareness in the smaller towns and cities on products for retail investors like Gold exchange traded funds and Nifty exchange traded funds, which are cost effective and transparent options to invest in gold and NSE’s benchmark index, Nifty 50.

The exchange also actively encourages investors to take precautions while trading and many initiatives are taken to advise investors on the do’s and don’ts of trading. The first Investothon was started, in partnership with CNBC in Mumbai in March last year. This was followed by investor runs at Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, each of which saw a very large participation from the investor community and market intermediaries.

Indore has been the focus of NSE’s attention. Recently an Investor Service Centre was set up at Indore, to help investors to resolve their queries and complaints in a quick and efficient manner.

NSE also has a partnership with the Madhya Pradesh stock exchange, based out of Indore. Many companies which were listed on the MP stock exchange , but were not being able to raise adequate capital, are now trading on NSE’s national platform, to help unlock value better.

NSE is the largest exchange globally by the number of trades in the equity market. The exchange plans to take the Investothon initiative to other tier two and tier three cities, like Rajkot, Cochin and Patna soon.