"We do not know who is to blame for the absence of connectivity. Whether it is SEBI, NSDL or CDSL, but the fact of the matter is that even three months after we got the nod to commence operations, investors who have opened accounts with CDSL cannot transact these shares owing to lack of connectivity between the two depositories. This is rather unfortunate," said the president of the exchange which is the promoter of CDSL.

Rathi told The Financial Express that it was difficult to pin the blame for the delay in connectivity on any single entity but maintained that it should not have takenthree months after the SEBI nod. "This is holding up the introduction of the second depository and this in turn is defeating the very purpose of having two depositories," said Rathi.

"The idea of having two depositories is not to create rivalry among two entities but to be able to collectively create infrastructure which would enable investors across the country to trade in dematerialised shares," he said.

"We have our strengths and they have theirs. The aim should be to pool in these to expand the total market. There is room for both entities to do business. We on our part have asked CDSL to work more closely with NSDL and find out ways in which joint marketing initiatives can be launched by both sides. There is no reason why this cannot happen," said Rathi, who shortly after taking over as president of BSE made an attempt to break the ice with rival NSE.

"The response of the market to dematerialisation has been terrific. However, the pace of dematerialisation has outstripped the pace at which theinfrastructure to facilitate dematerialisation has taken place. The ultimate aim is to promote the depository culture and there is a role for CDSL to play in ensuring that more infrastructure can be created," he added.

Even though CDSL is the second depository, experts feel that a large part of the total market capitalisation is yet to be dematerialised and there is scope for CDSL to concentrate on this large market share.

SEBI on the other hand is trying to ensure that the transfer of an investor's shares could take place from NSDL to CDSL at the minimum possible cost to the investor.