The Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia's oldest stock exchange, plans to launch a separate trading platform for small and medium enterprises. Sources close to the development said the BSE was preparing a strategy for an SME exchange.

Apart from the National Stock Exchange, others in the fray for launching an SME exchange are the Inter-Connected Stock Exchange and Financial Technologies. Inter-Connected Stock Exchange is a trading platform created by 13 regional stock exchanges, while Financial Technologies is the promoter of commodities exchange MCX.

Financial Technologies proposes to enter the segment in partnership with the Small Industries Development Bank of India, the state-run lender for SMEs. The Over-The-Counter Exchange of India also proposes to revive its trading platform after its earlier attempts to make itself a strong trading platform for SMEs failed to succeed.

Rajnikant Patel, managing director and chief executive officer of BSE, refused to comment. An email questionnaire sent to the BSE spokesman elicited no response.

Sources said this initiative by the BSE would be completely different from its IndoNext platform, which is a platform for trading in stocks listed on regional stock exchanges.

The BSE had received Rs 378 crore (Rs 3.78 billion) by placing 5 per cent equity stake each to Deutsche Boerse and Singapore Exchange.

Flush with the money, sources said, BSE could go ahead with its expansion plans. Currently, small companies listed on the BSE are required to have a minimum post-issue capital of Rs 3 crore (Rs 30 million) and a minimum market cap of Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million).