SEBI may allow institutions to short-sell in the Capital markets

Mumbai, Jan 15 (UNI) As the shares rose one per cent at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to a lifetime high here today, the stock market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) today said it was planning to allow institutions to short sell in the Capital markets.

Addressing the inaugural session of FICCI's Capital Market Conference here this morning, SEBI Chairman, M Damodaran, hoped that it could become a reality during the current year itself. He also informed that SEBI was busy devising a model to come up with a separate exchange for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Expressing his personal view on the OTCEI (Over the Counter Exchange of India), he said that ''Despite our readiness for it which would have helped SME market grow, it turned out to ba a failure.'' He urged the trade groups to adopt self-regualtory measures and thus minimising the job of SEBI in days to come.

Prior to it, inaugurating the two-day seminar, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Prithviraj Chavan, said that ''The Centre was working towards strengthening of the already existing regulators in the country and creating new ones wherever they were required. He hinted that the sectors like coal, petroleum, mining and transportation may soon see regulators for themselves in days to come. Also, he infromed that the government was all set to introduce the PFRDA (Pension Fund and Regulatory Development Authority) during the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament.

Next to follow will be the banking regulations, he added.

Disinvestment in certain PSUs and banks was in the offing, but it will not go beyond 51 per cent, particularly in the case of banks, he said. Above all, he revealed that simplification of laws relating to both direc and indirect taxes was high on the agenda of the UPA Government at the Centre.

Ruing over the slow growth of equity market in the country, H F Khorakiwala, Presidfent of FICCI, said that ''Despite the market capitalisation being an impressive 85 per cent of GDP, the amount of equity raised through public offerings in India was lower than that raised in primary markets in East Asia and the USA. Even though the fact that Indian equity market was witnessing an impressive growth, equity as a source of new funding has played an insignificant role, he added.

UNI