ntroduction and brief history
The Indian stock market today is actually comprised of two key entities and over 20 other exchanges. These 2 primary entities are the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited and the NSE or the National Stock Exchange of India Limited. There is an interesting past history regarding where the two markets originated from. During the 1850's, the first stock exchange in India was established when the East India Company created and developed a "community" of brokers.
By 1860, there were already 60 broker members of the exchange. As of 1874 and the results of a rapidly expanding share trading industry, these brokers gathered regularly (at a well-know location which is now known as Dalal Street) in order to conduct their business. Stockbrokers began gathering in front of Mumbai's Town Hall, conducting there meeting underneath Banyan trees, and the Indian stock market was born.
Although there are actually over 20 different stock exchanges in India today, but the two most powerful ones are the two mentioned above. The Bombay Stock Exchange Limited oftentimes referred to as the BSE, was originally established in 1875. Interestingly enough, it is the oldest stock market on the entire Asian continent that has been operating since the very beginning. Today there are over 4,700 companies listed on the BSE as well as over 7,700 stock exchange scripts.
The National Stock Exchange of India Limited, or NSE as it is called, is an Indian stock market based in the city of Mumbai and was originally established only 18 years ago in 1992. In that short period of time, it has grown to nearly 1,600 company listings and has a current market capitalization of 47,01,923 Rupees (Wikipedia). It was predicted that the NSE would be the largest stock exchange in India where market capitalization was considered when 2009 ended.
Up until the 1980's there was no way to measure or scale the ups and downs in stock values. However, in 1986, the BSE implemented SENSEX, which was a stock index. Three years later, India witnessed the launch of the BSE National Index. It was renamed the BSE-100 Index in October of 1996 because it was comprised of 100 different stocks listed with India's 5 major stock exchanges. These 5 major markets were Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, and Mumbai. Additionally, the dollar-linked version of the BSE-100 was launched in May of 2006.
Numerous banks, financial intermediaries, insurance companies, and leading financial institutions mutually own the NSE. However, the entities of management and ownership are completely separate entities. Interestingly enough, 2 of the NSE's foreign investors have taken a serious position in the NSE - Goldman Sachs and NYSE Euronext.
Differences between the BSE and the NSE
The key difference between the BSE and the NSE is that the former is not automated yet, although progress is being made to achieve full automation, whereas the latter is a fully automated exchange complete with the electronic processing of market orders. There are over 2,000 stocks now listed with the NSE while over 4,700 have been listed with the BSE.
