India's stock markets have come a long way from the days when settlement could be cancelled, postponed, or merged at will, and when a mother's warning about Bombay "gamblers" was not entirely unfair. At the ET Alpha Wealth Summit, BSE MD and CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy offered a candid account of how trust, technology, and targeted outreach are reshaping Indian capital markets, and what still needs to change.
"My mother told me all people in Bombay gamble in stocks. Think of those days, and think of today. That is how far trust has brought us," said Ramamurthy.
Talking to Kshitij Anand, Editor (Markets) of ET Digital, Ramamurthy opened with scale: India now has around 11 crore unique PAN numbers and 25 crore UCC accounts in the markets, with 3.5 crore investors regularly active. Equity market turnover has crossed significant milestones, and BSE is pushing on multiple fronts, from an internet-based book-building platform for IPOs to a Request for Quote (RFQ) platform for debt capital, and its StAR MF platform for mutual fund distribution.
A particular emphasis, he said, is being placed on SMEs. "Capital creation through medium enterprises has a big role to play," he noted, signalling that BSE sees SME listings as a structural priority, not a side story.
"Settlement guarantee means finality. Funds and securities go directly into the client's account. That single change transformed how the public perceives the market."
Trust is everything
On the question of trust, Ramamurthy was both philosophical and practical. He traced the transformation from an era he lightly called "T plus anything if it happens," when settlement was uncertain and the market felt opaque, to today's regime of guaranteed, time-bound settlement with client-level fund segregation. This shift, he argued, was the foundation on which retail participation has been built.
But infrastructure alone is not enough. BSE runs extensive investor education programmes, with Ramamurthy personally visiting 10 to 11 colleges each year. The message he takes to students is twofold: build the habit of investing early, and understand what you are buying. "Trade what you understand. Understand what you trade," is the core principle he said BSE repeats across all its outreach.
Vision for India: Young investors, women investors
Two groups receive special attention in BSE's awareness strategy. The first is women. Ramamurthy recounted a striking moment at a United Nations women's financial literacy event at BSE, where a visiting professional from abroad admitted she left all investment decisions to her husband. "You earn and you leave investing to your husband; why?" he recalled asking, visibly surprised. Research consistently shows that women investors bring greater stability to markets, he said, and BSE is a firm believer in expanding female participation. The second group is Gen-Z. Young investors are more digitally active than any previous generation, but that also makes them more vulnerable to financial fraud online.
Fight against Deepfakes & other cybercrimes
"Deepfake videos of me circulate online advising people to buy or sell specific shares. When someone asked my comment, I said, if I were that intelligent, why would I be working?"
Cybercrime awareness has become a central pillar of BSE's Gen-Z outreach. Alongside educating students on investment basics, BSE conducts sessions on UPI fraud, phishing links, and fake investment advice — including coordinating directly with police cybercrime cells. "Educating law enforcement about what is actually happening is as important as educating investors," Ramamurthy said.
His summary of BSE's social mission was characteristically blunt: markets need yuva shakti and nari shakti — the energy of youth and the stability that women investors historically bring. On both counts, he said, the exchange is just getting started.
BSE's four focus areas under Ramamurthy
SME capital access
Prioritising listings and capital formation for small and medium enterprises
Cybercrime education
Training students and police on deepfakes, UPI fraud, and fake investment tips
Women in markets
Expanding nari shakti participation to bring long-term stability to D-Street
Campus outreach
10–11 college visits per year to ingrain an investment culture in Gen-Z
ET Alpha Wealth Summit is powered by RedHexo SIF by HSBC Mutual Fund, The Macallan as the Experience Partner, and MProfits as Exhibit Partner.
