Designing a social stock exchange

Distilling key global learnings will be vital in ensuring that the Indian initiative is positioned for success in helping social enterprises and non-profits to raise funds

During her Budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a social stock exchange (SSE) under the regulatory ambit of the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to support social enterprises and non-profits in raising funds. SSEs can be helpful in bringing in significant additional capital to support entrepreneurs working to improve the lives of underserved populations, thereby accelerating inclusive growth.

Currently, there are no dedicated online information or investment platforms to serve “for-profit” social enterprises. As for non-profits, it is estimated that there are about 3.1 million non-government organisations (NGOs); 25 per cent are engaged in religious activity, 22 per