Union Budget 2019: Social stock exchanges to list social sector organisations

Social stock exchanges are a new and emerging form of social fundraising

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As part of the presentation of the Union Budget 2019, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a plan to create a social stock exchange for social enterprises and voluntary organisations.

"It is time to take capital markets closer to the market and meet various social welfare objectives related to inclusive growth." Sitharaman announced steps towards creating the Electronic Fund-raising Platform (EFP), a social stock exchange, under the regulatory ambit of SEBI, for listing social enterprises and voluntary organisations.

Its stated goals would be to allow such organisations to raise capital in the form of equity, debt, or mutual funds.

Social Stock Exchanges (SSE) already exist in the UK, Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, Jamaica and Kenya.