Sensex at 40 reflects India’s market evolution from manual trades to global integration: SEBI Chairman

Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Friday that as India’s heartbeat index, the Sensex marks 40 years of its inception, the idea behind it was forward-looking at a time when the economy was largely inward-looking and market participation was limited and manual.

As India liberalized and integrated the index with the global markets, the index grew as the economy grew, he recalled that the changing composition of the Sensex reflected the rise of private enterprise, a shift from traditional industries to services, finance and technology, and the close connection between domestic markets and global capital.

“When the Sensex was introduced, India’s economy and markets were very different from what we see today. Trading was manual, market participation was limited and the economy was relatively inward looking. However, the idea behind the Sensex was to create a transparent, representative and reliable benchmark that reflects the performance of leading companies in the economy,” said Pandey.

Over the last 4 decades, the rich institutional history of the Sensex has marked a defining moment in the development of India’s capital markets, Pandey said.

He was speaking at a BSE event celebrating 40 years of the Sensex, which was launched in 1986.

Pandey found it remarkable that some companies that were part of the Sensex at its inception are still constituents today.

“Over four decades, marked by liberalisation, technological disruption, regulatory evolution and global shocks, these enterprises have adapted without losing their core principles. Their continued presence is no coincidence. It reflects a continued focus on governance, competitiveness and long-term focus, while the market responds in many ways to value creation, which continuously responds to us. Cyclical, sustainable value is built between generations,” the Sebi chief said.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is one of the oldest stock exchanges in Asia and is one of the very few institutions in the world that has seen and endured global crises such as world wars, the Great Depression of 1929, the oil shock, the dot-com bubble-burst, the global financial crisis and the more recent high-profile Covid-19.

Pandey said the next phase of market growth will be defined not just by scale, but by quality and sophistication.

Enumerating the regulator’s priorities, he said SEBI will continue to strengthen corporate governance standards, promote sustainable finance and long-term value creation.

While encouraging innovation, investor protection will be at the center of SEBI’s priorities and the market watchdog will ensure responsible use of technology and data in market operations and monitoring, he said.

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Pandey said the next frontier for SEBI lies in its perception before risks surface as markets evolve with emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence.

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