January 20, 2013

Press Release No. 1

National Stock Exchange organizes the first Investothon in Kochi on 20^th January

Kochi, 20^th January, 2013- The investor run of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has been gaining strong momentum. After receiving over whelming support from the investor community and other market participants, in different cities, NSE organized an Investothon at one of the fastest growing cities of India, Kochi on Sunday, the 20^th of January.

The investor run is an initiative to create awareness among the people of Kochi, the industrial and commercial capital of Kerala, on safe investing. It is also a campaign to encourage people to grow their savings, by investing a portion of their finances in productive assets, traded on exchanges like Gold exchange traded funds.

The Investothon was flagged off by the city Mayor, Mr. Tony Cammini, while another race was given the green signal by Mr. K. Venkataraman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Karur Vysya Bank. The investor run, in partnership with the CNBC TV 18 Group was organized along the scenic backwaters of the Arabian Sea, at the Marine Drive grounds in Ernakulum.

There were two main runs, a three km run called the Power run and the 5 km run , named after the government’s recently announced scheme , the Rajiv Gandhi equity savings scheme . The savings scheme provides tax benefits to first time investors, who invest 50,000 in some permitted stocks or funds, as long as their gross total income for the year, is within 10 lakh. NSE has been actively creating awareness on the advantages of the scheme through seminars, print campaigns in regional newspapers and through training of salaried employees in corporate offices. The RGESS race is a reiteration of NSE’s commitment to create awareness on the Rajiv Gandhi scheme. In the scheme, an investor can invest in the top 100 stocks listed on NSE, PSU stocks and exchange traded funds like Nifty ETF’s.

More than 2,500 people from Corporates, Management schools, leading banks, trade unions and market participants joined in the Investor run.

Joint Managing Director of the National Stock exchange, Ms. Chitra Ramkrishna said, “We have been seeing a very encouraging growth in investment from this region. Kochi has seen tremendous economic growth in the last decade, driven by industrialization and high remittances from NRI’s. We want to encourage people to invest a part of their idle funds, into productive assets, to secure a brighter future’’

Anil Uniyal, CEO, CNBC TV18 & CNBC Awaaz said, “Such marathons are an initiative to sustain public confidence on investment and stabilizing the future of the Indian Markets. Investothon 2012-13 has helped in bringing together all of Kochi’s wealth creators on a common stage.’’

The key economic drivers in Kochi’s growth have been flourishing tourism, the mushrooming of IT and BPO enterprises and a well established ship building industry. Heavy investment into this region has ensured that the city’s GDP growth has grown to 8.3 per cent. The sprawling malls which sell gold are a testimony to the great fascination for the yellow metal here.

NSE’s attempt is to create awareness about products like gold exchange traded funds, which are ideal investment products, which offer market returns, sans the trouble of storing physical gold.

It is also possible to accumulate units of Gold ETF’s and sell them, when there is a requirement for physical gold.

NSE has been taking many initiatives to increase financial literacy, in different parts of India. In one such initiative, NSE is offering a short-term course called NSE Certified Capital Market Professional (NCCMP) on different aspects of the Financial Markets, in partnership with colleges and Institutes. In Kochi, the exchange has tied up with the Rajagiri Centre for Business Studies and the London College of Business and Finance for these courses.

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.

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