Bullish over Indian stock market's growth potential, top bourse BSE's chief Ashish Chauhan has said its market capitalisation can grow over ten times in the next 10-15 years to surpass USD 10 trillion level with a right approach at various levels.
The markets, however, need to become a vehicle for generating funds to be invested across various sectors, rather than just being trading platforms, he said.
"If India has to take its rightful place at the global platform, it also needs to have a much higher market capitalisation and we need to have a large amount of participation from every nook and corner of the country," Chauhan told PTI in an interview.
When asked how and by when Indian markets can get an overall valuation of USD 10 trillion, the BSE MD and CEO said, "Indian markets would need to work to reach that target.
"Today we have reached around USD 1.6 trillion (over Rs 100 lakh crore) and over the next ten years, if we work hard, we increase our investor base, from within India and abroad, we increase investments in different areas, then there is no doubt that India can grow 10 times over the next 10-15 years.
"So, by 2030 we can reach that range. There are USD 40 trillion of wealth waiting globally for good markets and India need to take its share from there."
On steps required to broaden the investor base, Chauhan said there are an estimated 2.7 crore investors in India and a lot of efforts would be required to expand this to 27 crore by 2030.
"In the last 20 years, the Indian middle class has grown ten times, but the number of investors has remained similar.
"In some sense, we can say that BSE and other participants have not been able to do enough to bring people to the markets. For example, Sensex has given a return of about 300 times in the last 35 years, but has this return been shared by all in the country?
"Basically, we need to educate investors and make them aware. Now is the time for BSE and others to stand up and be counted.
"When nation is on a path to growth, BSE also has to move hand in hand and to ensure that the capital requirement of the economy is made available to them," Chauhan said.
