Briefly explain the history of SME IPO or SME platform in India.

We witnessed the formation of Over The Counter Exchange of India in mid 1990's. It was also known as OTCEI back then. We also witnessed the premature death of this exchange, as it failed to get the necessary support at the time. The concept was already in place long before that.

Jan. 2010, the Prime Minister's Task Force recommended that a special Stock Exchange/ Platform be established for SMEs. SEBI also established the rules for governance of the SME Platform. The Bombay Stock Exchange has established EMERGE and BSE SME Platform respectively. Stock Exchanges continue to work towards making the platform more suitable for companies looking to grow from small businesses by raising capital from Capital Market.

We now have SME platform, which works on the new concept screen-based trading. BSE launched India's first SME platform in 2012, and it has 120 scrip on its books in the last three years (till 31.12.15). NSE also followed in the BSE's footsteps, but only a handful of scrip are listed.

SME IPOs are more rewarding than main boards after listing. This has helped corporate to move to the main board following maiden listing on SME platform. Thus, this segment is attracting a lot of attention across the board.