Saurabh Gupta | 09 Feb, 2012
The much awaited separate stock exchange for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) seems waiting for its best Muhurat, said MSME Secretary R K Mathur.

"I think they (the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange) are looking at a good time to launch because the stock market had not been doing so well," Secretary in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Mathur told media recently.

Mathur informed this on the sidelines of the Signing Ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding between the National Institute for Entrepreneurship & Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the national capital on Monday.

He said that most of the regulatory hurdles to set up SME Exchanges have been resolved. "From our side, there are no issues to be sorted out," Mathur added.

Access to potential finance has been severe disadvantage for the SME sector in India. And so, separate stock exchange for sector will be a facilitator in raising funds.

However in May 2011, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has granted the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) approval to set up platforms dedicated to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). And in 2010 SEBI had come out with guidelines for dedicated exchanges for SMEs.

After getting approval from SEBI, both BSE and NSE are ready to launch the much-awaited SME Exchange.