December 16, 2012

Press Release No. 1

NSE's run for Investors in Delhi elicits strong interest

 

The Investothon initiative, started by the National Stock exchange and the CNBC TV 18 Group in February 2010 has been gaining tremendous momentum. The investor run has been held successfully in many metros and smaller cities like Ahmedabad, Indore and Bhubaneshwar. On Sunday the 16th of December, the second Delhi Investothon was held in the capital’s prestigious Thyagaraj sports complex. The response was overwhelming and an enthusiastic crowd of more than 6500 people participated in the run to empower investors and spread the equity cult.

 

NSE has been focusing on creating awareness on safe investing among investors and the movement has also galvanised the member broker community to encourage responsible investing by investors.

  

The two km race was named RGESS, on the government's recently announced scheme for new investors called the Rajiv Gandhi equity savings scheme.  It was represented by the colour red, denoting power, while the four km race was represented by green, a symbol of wealth.  The races were flagged off by Mr. Ajay Maken, Union Minister for housing and poverty alleviation.

 

The dedication of the race to the tax saving scheme is a reiteration of the NSE’s commitment to create awareness among new investors. The scheme offers tax benefits to first time investors, if they invest in the permitted securities or mutual funds, or exchange traded funds, provided that their annual income is less than 10 lakhs. New investors can invest Rs. 50,000 and get a tax benefit on 50 per cent of this investment.

 

Eligible securities include equity shares of the top 100 companies on NSE and BSE i.e. “CNX-100” or “BSE-100”, equity shares of public sector enterprises that are categorized as Maharatna, Navaratna or Miniratna by the Central Government, follow on public offers of these PSU’s, units of Exchange traded funds like Nifty ETFs, Bank Nifty ETFs and PSU bank Nifty ETF’s. Mutual fund schemes with RGESS-eligible securities as underlying will also be allowed, giving first time investors an opportunity to invest in a wide range of products.

 

Joint MD of NSE, Ms. Chitra Ramkrishna said, “We are confident that the Rajiv Gandhi equity savings scheme will encourage first time investors to come into the equity markets and invest in broad based products like exchange traded funds."

 

 Anil Uniyal, CEO, CNBC TV18 & CNBC Awaaz said, “Over the years, CNBC-TV18 has earned the repute of being one of the trusted guardians for Indian investors and member brokers. Through Investothon 2012 and our partnership with NSE, we would like to celebrate, recognize and spread the message of investor empowerment and strengthen their confidence."

 

The other unique feature of the Delhi Investothon was that it was the beginning of a partnership with the social venture “Smile”, which works actively with children from underprivileged backgrounds, to educate them and improve their standard of living. 

 

At the Investothon, the participants were encouraged to donate funds, clothes and books for the underprivileged children.

 

Prizes were given away for the team with the highest number of participants, the most enthusiastic team, the high five team and so on.

   

The capital city of Delhi was recently called the Ultimate city to visit and explore, by the prestigious National Geographic magazine. It is also known as one of the world’s richest cities, with a per capita income of more than 1.16 lakhs. Delhi is not only a thriving commercial and trading centre, it is home to many multinational companies and the service sector, making it an inevitable choice for the Investothon, to empower investors to grow their savings, by investing in productive assets.

 

NSE has been engaged in many financial literacy initiatives like courses for senior school students in financial markets, partnerships with institutions like IIM Shillong, the government run NIFM, the Bharati Vidyaeeth in Pune and several other Universities to run MBA and post graduate courses in financial markets.

 

NSE has also tied up with GGS Indraprastha University, Delhi, Punjabi University, Patiala and Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak to run post graduate courses in financial markets. Nearly 100 students who are doing financial markets courses that are being jointly run by NSE and NIFM or the National institute of financial management also participated in the races.

 

About NSE:

 

National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSEL), India’s largest exchange in equity and Equity Derivatives segments was established in the mid 1990s as a demutualised electronic exchange by leading Indian Financial Institutions. NSE offers trading, clearing and settlement services in a range of products covering various asset classes namely equity, debt, derivatives on equity, currencies and interest rates. NSE provides a modern, fully automated screen-based trading system. NSE’s trading platform is connected to two lakh trading terminals, spread across more than 2000 towns and cities giving it an extensive reach. NSE has played an important role in helping reform the Indian securities market and in bringing about transparency, efficiency and market integrity.

 

NSE is ranked the world’s largest exchange in cash market trades, the second largest in index options and the third largest in index and stock futures.

 

NSE’s flagship index, the Nifty 50, is used extensively by investors and market participants in India and around the world, to take exposure to the Indian equities market. For more information about NSE, please visit: www.nseindia.com