First SME company from J&K lists on NSE

Jammu & Kashmir-based Sarveshwar Foods today became the first small and medium enterprise (SME) from the state to make its debut on the capital market by getting listed on the National Stock Exchange.

The company, which is engaged in the business of processing and marketing of branded and un-branded basmati and non-basmati rice, is the 128th listing on NSE Emerge -- the exchange's platform for SMEs.

Shares of Sarveshwar Foods closed at Rs 70.05 apiece today, 17.59 per cent down from its issue price of Rs 85.

Sarveshwar Foods had garnered Rs 55 crore from its initial public offer (IPO), which opened on March 5 and closed on March 8. The company had fixed the price band at Rs 83-85 per share.

The issue was oversubscribed 1.56 times.

"The listing of an SME from Jammu and Kashmir is an important breakthrough for NSE Emerge platform, as it is reflective of our robust market development initiatives, as also the need for small businesses, wherever they are located, to tap more organised form of capital," NSE chief business development officer Ravi Varanasi told PTI.

With more than 80 listing in the current fiscal year, the stock exchange has a healthy pipeline for the next few months also.

According to Varanasi, cities like Ranchi, Guwahati and Patna are also emerging as clusters which shall be seeing activity in the coming days.

He also noted that awareness programs conducted by the exchange in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities have witnessed significant response from the entrepreneurs regarding the alternative fund raising mechanism from cities like Dehradun, Mohali, Morbi, Vishakhapatnam and Jammu.

"The main focus is to create awareness of the platform across all principal SME clusters. NSE team regularly conducts outreach programs in SME clusters to familiarise firms with the process of approaching capital markets as a new and viable option for raising capital in an efficient manner to scale up their businesses," Varanasi said.

"These programs also brief the SMEs with regard to the steps they should to take to prepare themselves for getting listed and raising capital. This should help us to tap the newer potential regions," he added.

NSE Emerge provides a platform to raise funds for SMEs on a growth path, as they are not large enough to list on the main board.

As per the NSE, the listed companies on NSE Emerge has together raised funds amounting to about Rs 1,800 crore.