INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By Rohit VaidMUMBAI: Despite the global equity market volatility, along with banking sector woes, the macro-economic scenario is extremely
positive in India, says the top executive of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
"Banks' books are getting cleaned up and NPAs (non-performing
assets) are also being recognised in a transparent manner
With growing GDP, legislative reforms such as GST and IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code), India will hit double-digit growth rates soon,"
Ashishkumar Chauhan, Chief Executive Office and Managing Director of BSE, told IANS in an interview over the phone.
According to Chauhan,
the ongoing strength of the Indian economy and growth was evident in GDP numbers, which were recently released
"India's economy expanded at its fastest pace since December 2016 as government spending continues to drive economic growth," he
said.
"Under the newly-enacted IBC, the fear of losing control over their companies has prompted defaulting promoters to settle their dues
of around Rs 83,000 crore before action was initiated," he said.
Regarding IPO supply being affected because of low market buoyancy due to
high interest and oil costs, Chauhan replied: "Globally, Indian exchanges recorded the highest IPO activity, with 90 IPO launches that
raised $3.9 billion in the first half of 2018."
He said that even at the BSE SME platform, there were 254 listed companies having a market
capitalisation of Rs 21,000 crore
"Nearly 46 companies have filed for listing, of which 20 SMEs have received approvals and we hope to hit 300 SMEs listings by the end of the
So, at BSE, we are very bullish about the IPO markets going ahead," he added.
On the growth prospects of BSE, Chauhan pointed out that more
than the traditional products, BSE was now focusing on growth of next-gen products that cater to "emerging India".
"Through innovative
business models and solutions, we are efficiently scaling up our outreach to the financially excluded population of India," he said.
"BSE is
betting big on facilitating investments in equities, mutual funds and insurance," he added.
He said BSE now planned to also provide
insurance distribution through its nationwide distribution system available in more than 3,000 cities having more than 200,000
people.
Recently, BSE tied up with Ebix Inc
for distribution of insurance in an exchange model, and has applied to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India for
approval.
The stock exchange major has emerged as the largest market for bond distribution, IPOs, Offer to Buy, Offer to Sale and other
instruments related to equities.
Last year, BSE raised Rs 1.7 lakh crore on its bond distribution platform and listed total additional debt
securities worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore.
"BSE has now truly become a catalyst for capital formation in the country instead of acting solely as a
platform for speculative activities," Chauhan added.
