BSE Foundation Day: Key milestones of Asia’s oldest stock exchange

The BSE—formerly known as the Bombay Stock Exchange—is a household name in the country even though only a miniscule share of India’s population invests in the stock markets.  

Any mention of the health of the capital markets in the country is incomplete without the mention of BSE’s benchmark index—the S&P BSE Sensex. This assumes significance as the much-newer National Stock Exchange (NSE) leads the BSE in terms of market share by a significant margin. 

Today, BSE celebrated its 149^th Foundation Day and this is a good occasion to look at some of the key milestones and achievements of the bourse, which is also Asia’s oldest stock exchange, launched in 1875 under a banyan tree in the form of The Native Share & Stock Broker’s Association. 

Key Milestones 

July 9, 1875 - The Native Share & Stock Broker’s Association was formed 

August 31, 1957 - BSE was granted permanent recognition under Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act (SCRA) 

January 2, 1986 - S&P BSE SENSEX, the country’s first equity index was launched 

July 25, 1990 - Sensex closed above the 1,000-mark for the first time 

January 15, 1992 - Sensex closed above the 2,000-mark for the first time 

March 30, 1992 - Sensex closed above the 4,000-mark for the first time 

August 19, 1996 - First major revamp of the Sensex 

1997 - BSE On-Line Trading (BOLT) system expanded across the country 

February 11, 2000 - Sensex crossed the 6,000-mark during intra-day trading 

June 9, 2000 - BSE launched equity derivatives 

June 2001 - BSE PSU index introduced; index options were also launched 

July 2001 - India’s first free-float index BSE Teck launched; stock options also made their entry 

December 31, 2001 - T+5 settlement system introduced 

April 1, 2002 - Settlement cycle shortened to T+3 

April 1, 2003 - Settlement cycle further shortened to T+2 

February 7, 2006 - SENSEX closed above the 10,000-mark for the first time 

October 1, 2008 - Currency derivatives were introduced 

March 13, 2012 - A dedicated platform for SMEs was launched in the from of BSE - SME Exchange Platform 

October 13, 2015 - BSE became the fastest exchange globally with a median response speed of 6 microseconds 

February 3, 2017 - BSE became India's first listed stock exchange when it listed on NSE 

December 22, 2018 - BSE launched ‘BSE Startups’, a new platform for entrepreneurs to list their start-ups 

October 24, 2022 - Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) were launched on Diwali during Muhurat Trading session 

July 7, 2023 - Sensex touched its all-time record high of 65,898.98 during intra-day trades 

(Source: BSE)