The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and BSE Limited have partnered to help smaller businesses understand and utilise IPOs as a growth avenue, aiming to increase awareness and accessibility of capital-market funding for MSMEs across India.
The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has signed a memorandum of understanding with BSE Limited to push more micro, small and medium enterprises towards public-market fundraising, in a move aimed at widening awareness of initial public offerings and the advantages of becoming a listed company. The agreement centres on helping smaller businesses understand how equity financing works and how an IPO can support expansion, according to the ANI report on Monday.
Ranjeet Mehta, chief executive and secretary general of PHDCCI, said the partnership is designed to help member firms, particularly MSMEs, raise funds at a lower cost and better understand the financing options available to them. He said many businesses remain unaware of government schemes and capital-raising routes, and that the chamber intends to run awareness programmes at the state and district levels to explain how companies can tap public markets for growth capital.
Sundararaman Ramamurthy, managing director and chief executive of BSE Limited, said small businesses often hold back from listing because of concerns about finance, corporate governance and the added compliance burden. He also pointed to the challenge of finding the right merchant banker and the reluctance of family-owned firms to disclose confidential information. Ramamurthy argued that listing can help such businesses unlock value while still retaining control, while also giving them access to risk capital beyond traditional bank lending.
The partnership builds on PHDCCI’s earlier work on MSME finance and business support, including mentoring initiatives and sessions on IPOs, funding schemes and technology transfer. Ramamurthy said around 760 companies across 27 states have raised Rs 17,000 crore from the market, with a combined market capitalisation of about Rs 2 lakh crore, and that roughly 200 of those firms have since moved to the main board. The chamber and exchange expect the new agreement to make capital-market funding feel more accessible to smaller enterprises.
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