Sebi chief wants private university status for NISM

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis says state govt can take up proposal in budget session

Sebi chairman U K Sinha on Saturday said it will apply for private university status for the National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM), which is an initiative to create a cadre of trained market professionals.

The proposal can be taken up by the state (Maharashtra) government in the budget session of the assembly, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new NISM campus at Patalganga, Raigad district, near Mumbai.

Speaking at the inauguration, Sinha said, "Going forward, the intention is to take help of the state (Maharashtra) government and to create a private university here".

Responding to the proposal, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "Sebi wants to transform the NISM into a university and I want to tell the Sebi chief that if we closely work together we can pass this law in the budget session of the state assembly."

So far, the institute was operating from its campus at Vashi in Navi Mumbai. The new campus was established as the Vashi facility turned out to be inadequate to meet its growing requirements.

The 70-acre new campus in the industrial township of Patalganga, where Reliance Industries has a large facility, has a potential to accommodate 5,000 students. Sebi has invested over Rs 400 crore in building the institute.

At present, the campus can accommodate about 1,000 residential participants in various training programmes. It will help NISM widen its activities and also cater to the growing demand for qualified securities market professionals.

The market watchdog is also in the process of getting recognition from AICTE (All-India Council for Technical Education), the statutory body that recognises professional courses.

While Sebi has introduced far-reaching reforms over the past 25 years through various regulatory changes, one of the major challenges faced by the securities market today is the lack of adequate qualified securities market professionals.