The Sebi-appointed working group on depositories is meeting on October 20 to take up the expansion of the list of securities where all investors have been asked to trade only in the demat form from January 4. This list includes, State Bank of India, Bank of India, Infosys, L&T, BPCL, ICICI, IDBI, IndusInd Bank, HDFC and BSES.

"We would be looking at expanding the list on October 20. If the group is in full strength, we should be able to push through with the expansion of the list. Some companies like Wipro and VSNL have written to us seeking inclusion in the list and we will definitely consider their request," said a top Sebi source.

Sebi chairman D R Mehta has already announcedthat he would be keen to see as many companies coming into the mandatory demat trading fold and had hinted that the list would be expanded in the October 20 meeting.

Wipro, with a market cap of close to Rs 8,000 crore, has already seen 58.09 per cent of its equity dematerialised. VSNL, with a market cap of about Rs 7,800 crore, has signed up with the depository recently and has already seen 12.10 per cent of its equity dematerialised. About 20 per cent of its equity is held in the form of GDRs, while the government holds about 65 per cent stake in the company. With yet another phase of disinvestment in the company around the corner, the company is keen to see all its shares in the demat mode so that issue allotment can be easily achieved through the depository.

Wipro, on the other hand, like Infosys, has been at the forefront of the depository process and has been exhorting its shareholders to move to the demat mode. Even the promoters, who have a sizeable holding in the company, are believed to havedematerialised some of their holdings.

According to depository sources, there is tremendous gain for a company in having its shares in the demat form. "Investors get rid of bad delivery problems and this benefits corporates a great deal as they no longer need to spend time, money and effort grappling with problems of paper including transfer delays etc," said a depository source. The companies which have been shortlisted in the first list have already seen large amounts of their shares dematerialised after Sebi announced that their shares be traded only in demat form from January 4 onwards.