April 19, 2013

Press Release No. 1

NSE organises SME workshop to create awareness in Guwahati

The National Stock Exchange (NSE), today, organized a one day workshop at Guwahati, to create awareness among small and medium enterprises (SME's), about the opportunities available to them, to raise working capital for their growth. The workshop was put together, in partnership with the capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and prominent industry association, Federation of Industries & Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER). The workshop was inaugurated by Shri Himangshu Sekhar Das, Principal Secretary, Government of Assam. Mr. Ananta Barua, Executive Director, SEBI, was the chief guest of the event.

India’s premium exchange, NSE, has been operating a dedicated platform for SME’s, called ‘Emerge’ where small companies can list and raise productive capital. The purpose of the workshop was to create awareness among SME’s, about the possibilities available on the exchange platform.

Currently a few high quality SME’s are trading on this platform and NSE has established a credible admission process for companies, to give confidence to investors. Many credible institutions, retail investors as well as high networth individuals are investing in these companies.

There are several clusters of electrical, manufacturing and handicraft enterprises in Guwahati, which require to raise capital, for their growth plans and 'Emerge' can be an ideal platform for them, to raise funds in an efficient and transparent manner.

Not only does listing give these SME’s more visibility, it also gives them higher credibility amongst customers and other stakeholders.

Apart from NSE's own admission process and a third party diligence to inspire investor confidence, NSE is encouraging the SME’s to get voluntarily graded by credible rating agencies. Additionally, the companies listed on Emerge raise capital through a transparent book building process.

Chief Manager of NSE, Ms. Khyati Shah said, "SME sector is the growth engine of the Indian economy. Adequate availability of capital for innovation and high growth is a key requirement of the SMEs of the country. We are confident that EMERGE will enable a large number of such companies to raise capital efficiently from risk investors".

NSE handholds these small enterprises, from the time thy show an intent to list, right up to the stage of listing. The exchange is also encouraging credible institutions to become nominated investors, to support the merchant bankers in underwriting the issue and subsequently ensuring market making for the company (buying and selling of the shares by the market maker).

Some of the topics discussed during the workshop were the importance of ratings for SMEs by Mr. Yogesh Dixit, Senior Director, SME, Crisil, roadmap to listing or preparation for being a listed company by Mr. Bijay Murmuria, Director, Sumedha Fiscal Services Ltd, corporate governance for growing companies by Mr. CS Deepak Kumar Khaitan, Chairman, Institute of Company Secretaries of India-EIRC and expectations of venture capitalists and private equity investors by Mr. Ananta Sarma, Managing Director & CEO, SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd. There was also a panel discussion on funding for growth--traditional and alternate sources. Participants were Mr. P K Sethi, Senior EVP & Head Investment Banking, IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd, Mr. Sham Lal Garg, DGM SME, State Bank of India, Mr. Pankaj Harlalka, ED Investment Banking, Microsec and Mr. Punit Jain, Regional Head, Resurgent India Ltd. The session was moderated by Khyati Shah, Chief Manager, SME, NSE.

ABOUT NSE:

National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSEL), India’s largest exchange in equity and Equity Derivatives segments was established in the mid 1990’s 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. The exchange conducts more than 1,500 seminars or workshops in different parts of India, every year.

NSE has focused on financial inclusion for nearly two decades. Some of the initiatives include a partnership with 9 universities and colleges to run MBA and post graduate courses in financial markets. The exchange has also partnered with a large number of schools, through CBSE to run courses in financial markets, for senior school students.

NSE is ranked the world’s largest exchange in cash market trades, the world’s largest exchange in currency trading and 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.

ABOUT FINER:

FINER, the Federation of Industry and Commerce of North East Region, is a leading non-profit Industry and Commerce body, working for the economic and infrastructure development of the North East region, through participation in developing of favorable industrial and infrastructure policies.

They actively participate in various Seminars, Workshops, Conclaves, Working Groups and Ministerial Committees to highlight the needs of the North East Region and motivate speedy implementation of policies and schemes for the holistic development of the economy and infrastructure of the North East.