BSE ready to be global player, has invested almost Rs500 cr in 15 mths to upgrade infra: MD-CEO

Singapore: The BSE has invested nearly Rs 500 crore in the last 15 months to upgrade its infrastructure, including technological advancements, and is prepared to be a global player, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sundararaman Ramamurthy said here on Friday. Speaking to PTI on the sidelines at the Futures Industry Association (FIA) Asia conference here, he said the 150-year-old BSE has regained its stature as one of the leading bourses in the country and stands ready to be a global player as foreign investors continue to trade in the multi-trillion-dollar Indian equity market. He pointed out that the fast-expanding Indian economy needs an equally fast-paced equity market such as those in London, New York, and Frankfurt.

To meet this growing global and domestic demand, the BSE has invested nearly Rs 500 crore on physical and technology infrastructure and is poised for accommodating "international-level needs of the market". BSE processes 12 billion orders per day today, compared with just about 100 million in 2022. Ramamurthy, who was appointed BSE MD & CEO on January 4, 2023 with a task to rebuild the exchange, has overseen multi-fold growth in the exchange numbers since taking charge. Facing keen competition for volumes from the multiple exchanges in the country, BSE had to be rejuvenated from a meagre volume of 5 per cent of the total equity market and without any equity derivative product of significance despite the segment being present in the country since 2000, Ramamurthy said.

Sensex 30 is an industry barometer and has helped in building a BSE trading community. "Today, we have 463 brokers, and 1.6 million clients are registered for trading Sensex 30 derivatives, with 800,000 regular traders," he said. "Furthermore, there are 120 Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) trading BSE Sensex 30 derivatives. More than 50 FPIs are in the pipeline or lined up for joining the Sensex 30 trade," he said. "While Sensex 30 equity derivative trade has picked up well to emerge as the fastest-growing derivative contract in the world, our plans are to have more participants and deepen and broaden the Sensex scope in the market," said Ramamurthy.

More data centres are part of the continuing upgrade and expansion plans at BSE, said Ramamurthy at the FIA Asia conference where delegates and participants from global equity, futures and derivative markets were abuzz with the potential of the Indian equity market. Overall, the conference took up issues, including increasing participation in the Indian equity trading network by mobile-app savvy young Indian traders from tier-2, 3 and 4 cities.

Ramamurthy expects to reach out to youths across the country through mobile apps, given the agility and talent of younger Indians to work out sums and numbers through fingertips. "One of the fastest ways to penetrate young investors in Tier-2, 3 and 4 cities are mobile-apps. In this direction to enhance awareness amongst youngsters, BSE too is in the advanced stage of launching its simulation-based app," he said.