Asia's oldest bourse, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), hopes to add another 1,200 member- brokers in the next one year, a senior exchange official said.
The BSE's recent move to offer stock-broking membership at a 90 per cent discount to the earlier rate has evoked a good response.
It has received nearly 457 applications in the first four months and nearly 1,200 applicants are in the pipeline. Currently, the exchange has around 600 active members.
"The exchange has received 457 applications, which are under various stages of approvals for the new membership. The 20 members have already gone live," BSE Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ashishkumar Chauhan told PTI here today.
Of the new applicants, nearly 50 per cent are existing brokers of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and from smaller cities, Chauhan said.
The BSE is talking to nearly 1,200 applicants who have shown a keen interest in taking up the membership, he said.
In April, the BSE slashed its membership deposit rate to Rs 10 lakh from the earlier Rs 1 crore. Along with other charges, including refundable ones, such as base minimum capital, contribution towards trade guarantee fund and sundry fees, a cash market membership on the BSE is available at around Rs 33 lakh.