After a prolonged wait, the country?s premier stock exchange BSE might be finally ready to kickstart operations of its SME exchange. According to sources, the bourse may throw open the SME platform in the first week of March.
An email sent to the exchange with regard to the launch details went unanswered. The exchange had first announced its intention to begin operations as early as November last year.
?SMEs are expressing concern over the status of the SME platforms on the two exchanges,? said C Salunkhe, president, SME Chamber of India. ?Over 92% of the more than 30 million SMEs don?t get funding from banks and have to self-finance their operations. Many are interested in tapping the capital market for funds and are looking forward to listing their companies on the SME exchanges,? he added.
?I suspect a few technical glitches might be causing the delay. The exchanges have to be doubly sure that there are no loopholes in the system. After all, it is public money that will be involved,? said Saurabh Agarwal, director, Kennis Group, an integrated business solutions provider to firms in the SME Segment.
Market regulator Sebi had given an in-principle approval to both the BSE and the NSE to set up SME exchanges in May last year. Despite the green signal, both the bourses have postponed the launch by a few months.
The new exchange will allow small unlisted firms with a capital of less than R10 crore to raise money from the primary market. The listing will help to raise visibility among investors and venture capitalists, besides providing the much-needed liquidity boost. ?A developing country cannot truly grow without adequately empowering the small and medium sector enterprises. If China can have a successful SME platform, so can India,? said a broker, who didn?t want to be named.
He added that despite the approval from Sebi, concerns surrounding the quality of management and corporate governance of SMEs still remain.