Archive · 25 Nov 2025
India's Social Stock Exchange Struggles to Gain Traction
India has a special marketplace called the Social Stock Exchange (SSE) to help good causes like charities and social businesses get money from investors.
But not many are using it.
There are lots of rules and it's hard for these groups to join.
Other countries like Singapore have similar markets that work better because they are easier to use and have more tools to show how the money is helping.
India's SSE needs to become simpler and offer more support to attract more people and make a bigger difference.
India's Social Stock Exchange (SSE) remains underutilised despite its potential to connect NGOs and social enterprises with investors.
Only 14 NGOs are listed on NSE and 58 on BSE, out of over 4.3 lakh registered NGOs in India.
High compliance costs and cumbersome processes deter smaller NGOs from participating.
India's SSE lacks user-friendly features and robust impact reporting frameworks compared to global models like Singapore's IIX.
SEBI has eased some rules, but deeper reforms are needed to improve usability, standardise impact reporting, and introduce new financial instruments.
- Who
- India's Social Stock Exchange (SSE), NGOs, social enterprises, investors, SEBI
- What
- The underutilisation of India's Social Stock Exchange despite its potential to connect NGOs and social enterprises with investors
- When
- As of August 2025 and projected trends up to FY2029
- Where
- India, with comparisons to global models like Singapore's IIX and Canada's SVX
- Why
- Due to design and execution issues, high compliance costs, lack of usability, and shortage of qualified social auditors
- Total NGOs in India
- 4.3 lakh registered on DARPAN portal
- NGOs registered with NSE
- 90
- NGOs listed on NSE
- 14
- NGOs registered with BSE
- 58
- CSR spending in India
- ₹20,000 crore annually
- Projected social sector funding by FY2029
- ₹43 lakh crore
- Singapore's IIX raised
- Over $500 million