By Rohit Vaid
MUMBAI: 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 year. 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.
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