Bombay Stock Exchange
Asia’s oldest stock exchange and the venue with the largest number of listed companies in the world. The BSE lists a very long tail of small and mid-sized Indian businesses alongside the country’s largest corporations, and operates the SME platform for smaller issuers.
- Location
- Dalal Street, Mumbai, India
- Trading currency
- Indian rupee (INR)
- Trading hours
- 09:15 to 15:30, Monday to Friday
- Trading days
- Monday to Friday, excluding the published exchange holiday list
- Time zone
- India Standard Time (UTC+5:30, no daylight saving)
- Market capitalisation
- Approximately USD 5 trillion (2025)
- Listed companies
- Over 5,000 — more than any other exchange in the world (2025)
- Settlement
- T+1, fully rolled out in January 2023, through the clearing corporation and the NSDL or CDSL depositories. A beta optional same-day (T+0) cycle has been introduced for a subset of securities.
Top performing companies today
Ranked by the current session’s percentage move, strongest first, from the companies this platform covers on this venue.
Retrieving current-day prices for the companies covered on this venue…
What trades here
Major indices
- S&P BSE SENSEX
- BSE 500
- BSE MidCap
Major listed companies
- Reliance Industries
- Tata Consultancy Services
- HDFC Bank
- Infosys
- ICICI Bank
- Hindustan Unilever
Major sectors
- Information technology services
- Financials
- Energy and petrochemicals
- Consumer goods
- Pharmaceuticals
How the market works
Market structure
A fully electronic order book (BOLT) with a main board and an SME platform for smaller issuers, which acts as a graduation route to the main board. Most large Indian companies are listed on both the BSE and the NSE.
Trading mechanisms
A pre-open call auction from 09:00, continuous trading 09:15 to 15:30, and a closing session. Circuit filters of 5%, 10% or 20% apply per security, and index-level circuit breakers halt the whole market on large moves.
Listing requirements
Main-board admission requires a minimum post-issue paid-up capital, a track record set under the SEBI ICDR Regulations, a minimum public shareholding of 25% (with time to reach it after listing), and compliance with the SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations. The SME platform applies lower thresholds.
Settlement
T+1, fully rolled out in January 2023, through the clearing corporation and the NSDL or CDSL depositories. A beta optional same-day (T+0) cycle has been introduced for a subset of securities.
Regulatory authority
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
How to invest in this market
What it takes to open an account and deal on BSE, separated by where you live — the two answers are rarely the same, and on some markets they are not even the same process.
Domestic investors
Residents of India
Indian residents need three linked accounts: a bank account, a trading account with a broker, and a demat account with a depository participant. Most brokers open all three together online in a day or two.
- A Permanent Account Number (PAN) — mandatory, with no exceptions.
- A demat account with a depository participant registered with NSDL or CDSL, and a trading account with a SEBI-registered broker.
- KYC verification, now commonly completed digitally through Aadhaar-based e-KYC.
- A linked bank account; no statutory minimum capital.
- Tax: 12.5% long-term capital gains above the annual exemption on equity held over twelve months, and 20% on short-term gains, plus Securities Transaction Tax on each trade. Dividends are taxed in the investor's hands at slab rates. Confirm current rates — India has changed them repeatedly.
Foreign investors
Open through a defined route
Foreign investors cannot open an ordinary retail account. Institutions register as Foreign Portfolio Investors through a designated depository participant; non-resident Indians use the separate Portfolio Investment Scheme. Direct retail access for a non-resident with no Indian connection is generally not available.
- Institutions: registration as a Foreign Portfolio Investor with SEBI through a Designated Depository Participant, categorised by investor type, with a custodian, a PAN and a domestic bank account.
- Non-resident Indians and Overseas Citizens of India: an NRE or NRO bank account, a PIS approval from the Reserve Bank of India through the designated bank, a demat account and a PAN.
- Tax: dividends to non-residents are withheld at 20% plus surcharge and cess, reduced by treaty. Capital gains are taxable in India at the applicable equity rates, with treaty relief where available.
- Repatriation is permitted from an NRE/PIS account; NRO balances have an annual repatriation limit and require a chartered accountant's certification.
Foreign ownership limits
A single FPI (with its investor group) is limited to below 10% of a company's paid-up capital; beyond that the holding is reclassified as foreign direct investment. Aggregate foreign holding is capped at the sectoral FDI limit for the company's industry. NRIs are limited to 5% individually and 10% in aggregate per company, which the company may raise to 24% by board and shareholder resolution.
Currency considerations
Quoted in Indian rupees. The rupee has a long-run depreciating trend against the dollar, which has historically taken a material bite out of unhedged foreign returns from an otherwise strong equity market.
Regulated routes to an account
- ZerodhaResident individuals and NRIs.
- ICICI DirectBank-linked, including NRI PIS accounts.
- HDFC Securities
Licensed intermediaries and official exchange platforms, listed to show the regulated routes into this market. This is not a recommendation and not an exhaustive list — check any firm against the regulator’s register before opening an account.
Verify before you act
Why this market matters
Why investors follow it
India is one of the fastest-growing large economies, and the SENSEX is its longest continuous equity record, dating to 1979. The breadth of listings gives access to domestic consumption and services growth that is hard to reach any other way.
Interesting facts
- It lists more companies than any other exchange in the world, the great majority of them small.
- The SENSEX has a base date of 1978-79 with a base value of 100, making it India’s longest-running index.
- It was the first Indian exchange to be recognised by the government under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act.
Official sources