Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE on Monday decided to reduce the listing fee for their SME platforms by 25 per cent amid challenges faced by small and medium enterprises due to coronavirus pandemic.

The fee rebate has been declared following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s several announcements to rescue the ailing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.

The revised listing fee structure will be applicable for the existing companies as well as for the firms waiting to be listed on the exchange, BSE said in a statement.

Currently, India is going through an unprecedented crisis caused by pandemic COVID-19. In these challenging times, it is our responsibility to support SMEs which form the backbone of our economy.

We hope that these measures along with the bold steps taken by the government will help in reviving SMEs and also encourage thousands of SMEs to go for listing, said Ajay Thakur, Head BSE SME and Startups.

SMEs have been hit hard due to economic activities coming to a grinding halt in the wake of COVID-19 crisis. Some of the SMEs are under enormous financial stress to meet their obligations.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) said it is committed to supporting the government in the nation’s battle against the pandemic and in providing assistance to alleviate the difficulties faced by the ecosystem especially SMEs (small and medium enterprises).

In view of the challenging times faced by SMEs, NSE has decided to provide 25 per cent rebate on the annual listing fees to the SME companies currently listed on the EMERGE platform of the exchange, the exchange said.

BSE said it has decided to bring down its annual listing fee for its SME platform by 25 per cent as part of efforts to support SMEs.

BSE and NSE had launched their respective SME platforms in 2012 and since then have been facilitating SMEs for raising funds, listing and trading on the exchanges .

Overall, 322 companies are listed on BSE’s SME platform and they have raised Rs 3,279 crore. Of these firms, 79 have migrated to the main board. In addition, as many as five firms are listed on the exchange’s startup platform.

On the other hand, 209 firms are listed on NSE’s EMERGE platform till date and these companies have garnered more than Rs 3,200 crore.