Calcutta Stock Exchange seeks to put exit application on hold

Kolkata: The Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to withhold the exit application it filed in February 2025, marking the first step towards reversing its proposed voluntary closure of stock exchange business after the West Bengal government backed plans to revive the 118-year-old bourse.

In a letter to the market regulator last week, the CSE sought to keep its application in abeyance following the West Bengal government's Budget announcement, the exchange's public interest director, Deepankar Bose, said.

People familiar with the rules said the CSE board will have to pass a fresh resolution and inform Sebi that it intends to withdraw the exit application.


"Requesting to withhold the application is the first step. CSE will send a fresh communication to withdraw the exit application once the state-backed revival process gains steam," a person close to the exchange said.

It is learnt that the West Bengal government has written to the Centre on the proposed revival plan. The exchange will have to overcome significant regulatory, technological and commercial hurdles before it can resume full-fledged operations.

After CSE filed its exit application, Sebi conducted a valuation of the exchange's assets in March but has yet to decide on the application.

Sebi introduced an exit framework for regional stock exchanges in 2012, asking exchanges with annual trading turnover below Rs 1,000 crore and no clearing corporation to voluntarily surrender their recognition.

About 20 regional stock exchanges, including those in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Guwahati, Pune and Chennai, exited the stock trading business over the past decade. CSE, however, fought a prolonged legal battle with Sebi before finally submitting its exit plan last year. It had also explored setting up its own clearing corporation or tying up with an eligible clearing corporation to clear trades.

Although trading on its own platform has remained suspended since April 2013, CSE continued to facilitate trading on the National Stock Exchange and BSE platforms until 2023 under Section 13 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act. That reflected the continued interest of the local broking community in operating through CSE despite regulatory hurdles.

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