The country's top bourse NSE today said it welcomes competition and it would be "more the merrier" situation post the entry of MCX-SX, which will begin operations as a full-fledged stock exchange by mid-November.
"Anything that builds the market is a great thing and the competition has typically been helpful. We have seen that," NSE chief Ravi Narain said here.
Narain was replying to queries about the competition it might face from MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX), which has got market regulator Sebi's approval to start a full-fledged stock exchange. It is gearing up to begin operations by Diwali or mid-November.
"NSE has always seen competition as a driving force for any market. It's 'more the merrier' for us," Narain said.
Currently, MCX-SX is only present in currency derivatives segment, where it competes with NSE.
When asked whether NSE would consider lowering deposits for its members, as it was high compared to the rivals, Narain said that the exchange would look at the feedback from various stakeholders and a decision was taken accordingly.
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"Competition has never worried us. We are actually very excited," he said after the launch of NSE's SME platform Emerge by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
"We say that we are a child of competition," Narain said, referring to the time when NSE came up as a strong competition to the iconic Bombay Stock Exchange.
Now known as BSE, the Bombay Stock Exchange has been in existence for over 125 years now, while NSE was incorporated in 1992 and it became the country's largest stock exchange by 1995.
Asked about the competition from BSE in the SME segment, Narain said that NSE keeps on bringing innovation to its products and procedures.
However, the competition will always remain there and NSE has always been an advocate of keeping the market forces competitive, he said.