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Category: Social Stocks

  • DEVI Sansthan to list on Social Stock Exchange to scale foundational learning

    DEVI Sansthan to list on Social Stock Exchange to scale foundational learning

    DEVI Sansthan (Dignity Education Vision International), a 33-year-old not-for-profit organisation focused on foundational literacy and numeracy, is set to make a landmark entry onto the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Social Stock Exchange (SSE), with its public issue scheduled to open on June 29, 2026.

    The Social Stock Exchange listing marks a significant milestone for the Ranchi-based organisation, positioning it among a small group of social enterprises to access transparent, impact-aligned public funding through India’s regulated capital markets framework.

    Funds raised through the issue will be channelled into foundational literacy and numeracy programmes, teacher training, learning outcome assessments, accelerated learning interventions, and school-based education models aimed at improving learning outcomes at scale across underserved communities.

    Founded in 1992 by educationist and former World Bank economist Dr. Sunita Gandhi — who also serves as Chief Academic Advisor of City Montessori School, recognised as the world’s largest school — DEVI Sansthan operates through its proprietary ALfA (Accelerating Learning for All) methodology. The model deploys peer-learning-based approaches to help children acquire foundational reading, writing, and arithmetic skills in a significantly compressed timeframe.

    “For decades, we have seen millions of children move through education systems without acquiring basic reading and arithmetic skills,” Gandhi, Founder and CEO of DEVI Sansthan said in a statement.

    “The Social Stock Exchange listing is an important step towards strengthening transparency, expanding collaborations, and taking foundational learning interventions to communities that need them the most.”

    Nixon Joseph, Group Executive Director of DEVI Sansthan and former President of SBI Foundation, said foundational literacy and numeracy represented one of the most critical challenges within the education ecosystem today.

    “The Social Stock Exchange listing reflects our commitment towards transparency, accountability, and long-term impact,” Joseph said. “It will help us strengthen our outreach, deepen collaborations, and expand access to quality foundational learning for underserved communities across geographies.”

    The organisation’s work currently spans foundational learning interventions, educator capacity-building programmes, learning outcome assessments, and large-scale literacy campaigns targeting children, youth, and adults across the Ranchi district. DEVI Sansthan collaborates with government agencies, schools, and private stakeholders to build what it describes as sustainable learning ecosystems at scale.

    The BSE Social Stock Exchange was established to connect social enterprises with mainstream capital markets investors seeking measurable social impact alongside financial accountability.

  • A market for good: why the ZCZP instrument could be CSR’s most important reform

    A market for good: why the ZCZP instrument could be CSR’s most important reform

    By Eldee

    For over a decade since the Companies Act of 2013 made Corporate Social Responsibility mandatory, India Inc has wrestled with the same uncomfortable truth: writing a cheque is easy; ensuring it actually changes lives is not. Project selection, implementation partners, monitoring mechanisms, third-party impact assessments — the compliance apparatus around CSR has grown so elaborate that the overhead sometimes rivals the impact. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ amendment of May 27, 2026, quietly addresses this problem. It deserves far more attention than it has received.

    The amendment permits companies to deploy up to 10 per cent of their CSR funds into Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP) instruments issued by eligible Not-for-Profit Organisations listed on the Social Stock Exchange (SSE). The instrument’s name is its entire architecture: no interest, no principal repayment. What a company invests is what a cause receives — in full, with no financial return expected and no capital clawed back at maturity. It is, in economic substance, a structured grant. But in regulatory form, it is a listed, exchange-monitored, disclosure-bound security. That distinction matters enormously.

    Why Companies Should Pay Attention

    India Inc’s annual CSR obligation now hovers around Rs 35,000 crore. A significant portion of that is spent well. But a meaningful share is lost to friction — to the labour of vetting NGOs, negotiating project scopes, commissioning assessments, and managing reputational exposure when a partner underdelivers. For mid-sized companies without dedicated CSR cells, this friction is particularly punishing.

    The ZCZP route offers a regulated alternative. Companies subscribing to SSE-listed instruments are exempt from independent impact assessments — a concession that reflects the exchange’s own disclosure architecture doing the heavy lifting. Due diligence is front-loaded at the listing stage, not replicated by every corporate subscriber. The investment counts toward mandatory CSR obligations. Governance is handled by a platform, not a project manager. For a finance director staring at an unspent CSR balance in the third quarter, this is not a small relief.

    Crucially, the mechanism does not displace the 90 per cent that continues to flow through direct project implementation. It supplements it. Companies retain their flagship programmes, their employee volunteering, their community partnerships. The ZCZP window adds optionality — a credible, market-based channel for funds that might otherwise be rushed out the door in the fourth quarter with insufficient diligence.

    Why NPOs Stand to Gain the Most

    The instrument’s more transformative potential lies on the other side of the transaction. India’s non-profit sector is vast, diverse, and chronically undercapitalised at scale. Organisations doing serious work in education, healthcare, livelihoods, and climate adaptation routinely spend more time fundraising than delivering. Donor cycles are unpredictable. Government grants arrive late and lapse on technicalities. Individual philanthropy, while growing, remains concentrated in a handful of large foundations.

    Corporate CSR, directed through the SSE, offers something different: predictable, programme-linked capital with a defined horizon — typically up to three years per instrument — allowing NPOs to plan, hire, and execute with a discipline that annual grant cycles rarely permit. The absence of repayment obligation removes the distortion that debt introduces into social sector organisations, which are not structured to generate financial surpluses. And listing on the SSE — which requires disclosure norms, due diligence, and outcome reporting — is itself an institutional upgrade. An NPO that has passed exchange scrutiny carries a signal of credibility that opens doors beyond the ZCZP window.

    The SSE’s Second Chance

    The Social Stock Exchange was conceived with ambition and launched with fanfare. Its early years have been, by most candid assessments, underwhelming. Liquidity has been thin. Corporate participation has been tentative. The ZCZP instrument has existed in the regulatory framework, but without the CSR linkage, the demand side was always going to be shallow.

    The MCA amendment changes the incentive structure. Companies now have a compliance-valid, governance-sound reason to engage with the SSE. If even five per cent of India Inc’s CSR spend — roughly Rs 1,750 crore annually — is channelled through the exchange over the next three years, it would transform the SSE from an interesting experiment into a functioning market. That, in turn, would attract more NPOs to list, more investors to participate, and more intermediaries to build the infrastructure that a mature social capital market requires.

    A Note of Caution

    None of this is automatic. The 10 per cent cap is deliberately conservative — a sensible calibration for a first iteration. The risk of NPOs gaming listing requirements to access corporate capital without genuine accountability is real, and the SSE’s supervisory capacity will be tested. The exemption from independent impact assessments, while administratively convenient, should not become a licence for outcome-blindness. Companies must resist the temptation to treat ZCZP subscriptions as a CSR box to check rather than a cause to support.

    The amendment’s logic, however, is sound. It meets companies where they are — seeking compliance efficiency — and nudges them toward a more transparent, outcome-linked model. It meets NPOs where they are — seeking capital at scale — and gives them a platform that demands accountability in return. It meets the SSE where it is — searching for relevance — and gives it a demand-side catalyst it has long lacked.

    Good policy does not need to be grand. Sometimes it simply removes a friction, aligns an incentive, and trusts the market to do the rest. This amendment is that kind of policy. Quiet, well-targeted, and overdue.

  • CSR Social Stock Exchange: India opens 10% investment window for firms

    CSR Social Stock Exchange: India opens 10% investment window for firms

    The corporate affairs ministry has opened a new funding channel for nonprofits, allowing companies to direct up to 10 per cent of their mandatory corporate social responsibility spending into zero coupon zero principal instruments listed on the Social Stock Exchange, in a move aimed at deepening transparency in social sector financing.

    The amendment, effective immediately, inserts the subscription to such instruments into Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 — the schedule that governs permissible CSR activities for profit-making companies required to spend at least 2 per cent of their three-year average net profit annually on social causes.

    Under the revised CSR Policy Rules, 2014, definitions for both not-for-profit organisations and zero coupon zero principal instruments have been formally introduced for the first time, providing regulatory clarity to companies seeking to deploy funds through the Social Stock Exchange.

    Not-for-profit organisations will be able to issue these instruments through the Social Stock Exchange in accordance with regulations set by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

    Unlike conventional bonds, zero coupon zero principal instruments carry no interest payments and no repayment of principal, functioning instead as a regulated grant or social investment vehicle designed to fund public welfare projects.

    “It helps in furtherance of a transparent and credible mode of funding CSR projects by companies and enables social enterprises to access a wider pool of capital,” said Anshul Jain, Partner Regulatory at PwC India.

    The 10 per cent cap on CSR Social Stock Exchange investments per financial year is intended to balance innovation with fiscal discipline, ensuring core CSR commitments remain intact while creating fresh pathways for social capital mobilisation.

    The Social Stock Exchange, established under SEBI oversight, is designed to bring market discipline and disclosure standards to social sector funding — a segment historically dominated by opaque grant-making and bilateral philanthropy.

  • SEBI Tightens Rules for Social Stock Exchange to Boost Transparency

    SEBI Tightens Rules for Social Stock Exchange to Boost Transparency

    Capital markets regulator SEBI introduced stricter regulations for the Social Stock Exchange (SSE) on September 19, 2025, aiming to enhance governance and transparency for not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) and social enterprises, according to a circular (SEBI/HO/CFD/CFD-PoD-1/P/CIR/2025/129).

    The updated framework mandates that NPOs registering with the SSE must be Indian trusts, societies, or Section 8 companies with a valid registration certificate held for at least 12 months. New annual disclosure requirements cover governance, finances, donor lists, and social impact, due by October 31 or the income tax return deadline, whichever is later.

    Social enterprises raising funds via the SSE must file an Annual Impact Report (AIR), verified by SEBI-registered Social Impact Assessors, covering at least 67% of program expenditure. SSEs can also enforce additional disclosure parameters to ensure compliance.

    The reforms aim to protect investors, ensure accountability, and align SSE operations with SEBI’s broader capital market regulations, such as the ICDR and LODR frameworks. By mandating independent impact assessments, SEBI seeks to drive measurable social outcomes and foster confidence in India’s growing social finance sector.

    “These changes strengthen the SSE ecosystem, ensuring funds serve genuine social purposes while maintaining regulatory oversight,” a SEBI spokesperson said.

    The rules reflect SEBI’s push to mainstream social investment while mitigating risks of fraud and enhancing credibility in the evolving social sector.

  • Social Stock Exchange gains traction, attracts diverse investors

    Social Stock Exchange gains traction, attracts diverse investors

    Notable examples include Bengaluru-based SGBS Unnati Foundation, Transform Rural India, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement and three other organisations.

    India’s Social Stock Exchange (SSE) is gaining momentum as a platform for social enterprises and non-profit organizations (NPOs) to raise funds, attracting a growing pool of investors seeking both financial returns and social impact.

    Launched to promote inclusive growth and financial inclusion, the SSE has seen several successful listings and fund raisings.

    Notable examples include Bengaluru-based SGBS Unnati Foundation, which raised Rs 1.8 crore to train and employ government college graduates, and Transform Rural India, securing Rs 2 crore for skill development projects.

    “The SSE provides a structured way for investors to support social causes they care about,” market analyst Mahesh Kumar said. “It’s not just philanthropy; for-profit social enterprises offer potential financial returns, similar to impact investing.”

    Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement and three other organizations have collectively raised Rs 8 crore, focusing on education, health, and sustainable livelihoods.

    The SSE’s rigorous listing standards, requiring regular audited reports and independent verification of social impact claims, are attracting investors. “Transparency and accountability are key,” noted Megha Shah, an impact investor. “I can track the tangible outcomes of my investments.”

    Tax benefits recommended by the SSE committee are expected to further boost investor interest, although specific rules are yet to be defined.

    While the SSE doesn’t explicitly list top-performing stocks, its growing roster of organizations spans various sectors, reflecting India’s diverse social welfare needs.

  • Over 20 social ventures register on SSEs; wait for offer documents

    Over 20 social ventures register on SSEs; wait for offer documents

    At present, organisations are only able to register on the platform. The format for offer documents and fundraising is yet to be released. It will only be possible to start fundraising or see any outcomes on the platform once this is done.

    India’s unique experiment of a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) is gathering steam, as many not-for-profit and social organizations have shown interest in listing on the platform. So far, over 20 social ventures have expressed their interest in listing on the new platform with more to follow.

    At present, organisations are only able to register on the platform. The format for offer documents and fundraising is yet to be released. It will only be possible to start fundraising or see any outcomes on the platform once this is done.

    Currently, more than 20 different social organisations have registered under the SSE platform of both NSE and BSE exchanges. Here are the details:

    1. Development Management Foundation

    This organisation is listed on both NSE and BSE. It is an educational institution founded to create, strengthen and establish development management.

    2. Gramalaya Trust

    It operates in the field of water, sanitation, and hygiene in rural, urban, coastal and tribal areas. It is listed on NSE.

    3. Grey Sim Learning Foundation

    Listed on NSE, the Foundation provides vocational skills and products to increase the employability and productivity of the youth.

    4. Krushi Vikas Va Gramin Prashikshan Sanstha

    Listed on NSE, this organisation aims at the betterment of rural, semi-rural, and diversifying urban communities depending on agri and nonfarm-based activities for their livelihood.

    5. Lighthouse Communities Foundation

    The foundation, listed on BSE, enables livelihoods for all.

    6. Masoom Trust

    Listed on NSE, it empowers, strengthen and transform night schools to empower youth.

    7. Missing Link Trust

    It is listed on both NSE and BSE and engages with the public on the issue of sex trafficking and missing girl child.

    8. Mukti

    It is listed on NSE and helps the poor and distressed across the globe.

    9. Opportunity Foundation Trust

    It is listed on both NSE and BSE and works to help lift girl children out of poverty through education.

    10. People’s Rural Education Movement

    Listed on BSE, it is working for the development of Adivasi (indigenous), Dalit, Fisher folk and other marginalized communities of Odisha and neighbouring states of India.

    11. Possit Skill Organisation

    Listed on both NSE and BSE, it supports unemployed youth to harness their talent and develop their market-oriented skills.

    12. Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust

    Listed on NSE, this trust looks at tackling the problems of poverty in Mumbai, especially among young children.

    13. Saath Charitable Trust

    Listed on BSE, it works with the deprived communities and empowers the socially marginalised by providing them livelihood services, and imparts skills.

    14. Score Livelihood Foundation

    Listed on NSE, it empowers communities with sustainable and inclusive livelihood options.

    16. SGBS Unnati Foundation

    Listed on both NSE and BSE, it works towards equipping underprivileged youths and providing employment.

    17. Supporting Association for Thematic and Holistic Initiatives (SATHI)

    Listed on BSE, it helps improving the lives of individuals, especially women and children.

    18. United Way of Delhi

    Listed on NSE, it helps individuals achieve their potential through education, financial stability, and access to health.

    19. United Way Mumbai

    Listed on NSE, it helps individuals achieve their potential through education, financial stability, and access to health.

    20. Voice Society

    Listed on NSE, it is a Voluntary Action Group of Academicians, Professionals and Volunteers who work to raise awareness amongst Indian consumers about their own Consumer Rights.

    The other social organisations listed on the stock exchanges include Vatsalya Trust, Samvedna Development Society, and Shri JagatBharti Education and Charitable Trust.

    An SSE is an electronic fundraising platform that allows an alternative fundraising option for social enterprises. Meanwhile, the listing process for SSEs works similarly to an initial public offering (IPO). The difference here is instead of allotted shares, participants will get Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP) instruments.

    At present, the social-development sector in India receives funding through multiple sources spanning corporate social responsibility (CSR), philanthropy, government funding and retail charity. An SSE would attempt to bring coherence across to diverse platforms with uniform frameworks of funding, utilisation, impact-creation, measurement, disclosures, and reporting.

    It may be noted that the BSE received a final approval from the regulator SEBI to launch SSE as a separate segment in December 2022, while NSE in February this year.

    This concept is still very new to India and was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget speech for the financial year 2019-20. Globally, countries like Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Portugal, South Africa, Singapore and the UK already have established SSEs.

  • NSE gets in-principal SEBI nod to set up social stock exchange

    NSE gets in-principal SEBI nod to set up social stock exchange

    The government thas already notified new security Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP) under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956.

    The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) received in-principle approval from the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to set up a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a separate segment of the NSE.

      “NSE has always played a pivotal role in capital formation for the country. We are working towards the launch of the Social Stock Exchange as a segment on NSE,” NSE Managing Director and CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan said in a statement.

      “We believe this platform will immensely benefit the social enterprises contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.

      The government has already notified new security, “Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP)”, under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956.

      The new instrument ZCZP can be publicly or privately issued by Not for Profit (NPO) upon registering with the Social Stock Exchange segment of NSE to raise funds subject to fulfilment of eligibility criteria.

      The regulations have currently prescribed the minimum issue size of Rs 1 crore and minimum application size for subscriptions at Rs 2 lakhs. Subscription to the ZCZP would be like a philanthropic donation.

      In her 2019-20 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed the creation of a Social Stock Exchange, under the regulatory ambit of the SEBI for listing social enterprises and voluntary organisations working for the realisation of a social welfare objective, so that they can raise capital as equity, debt or as units like a mutual fund.

  • National CSR Exchange Portal to become a reality

    National CSR Exchange Portal to become a reality

    Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the National CSR Exchange Portal

    National CSR Exchange Portal has become a reality in India. It aims at enhancing and aiding the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. As Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) became mandatory under the Companies Act 2013, more and more companies have to abide by the legislation making it essential to direct companies with relevant resources and expertise towards the same.

    To manage their CSR projects effectively, the government launched the National CSR Exchange Portal earlier this month to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

    The National CSR Exchange Portal is a digital initiative that will enable stakeholders to list, search, interact, engage and manage their CSR projects voluntarily, according to an official release.

    This National CSR Exchange Portal will serve as an e-marketplace hosting PAN India social welfare projects where stakeholders such as Implementing agencies can put up their ongoing projects, and companies can select projects for CSR Spending per their preferences and vice versa.

    The Exchange Portal has been developed based on recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility 2018. An Advisory cum Technical Committee was formed for the development of the portal. The Committee was represented by different CSR Stakeholders – CSR Practitioners, Technical Experts, and Civil Society Organizations. The Committee apprised of BSE Sammaan, an initiative of MCA Think Tank: Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Confederation of Indian Industry, and Bombay Stock Exchange, which offered similar functionalities as envisaged for the National CSR Exchange Portal.

    The exchange was launched by the Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is in charge of the finance and corporate affairs ministries, in the presence of Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh and senior officials.

  • SEBI sets up technical committee on social stock exchanges

    SEBI sets up technical committee on social stock exchanges

    The technical committee would prescribe disclosure requirements related to performance, financials and governance and dwelling upon aspects related to social impact and social audit.

    Markets regulator SEBI has constituted a technical committee, under the chairmanship of Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, former chairman of Nabard, following the recommendations of a working group on social stock exchange.

    The technical committee would prescribe disclosure requirements related to performance, financials and governance and dwelling upon aspects related to social impact and social audit.

    The committee will comprise of members including Vikram Gandhi faculty at Harvard Business School and founder of Asha Impact; Ingrid Srinath, founder director, Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy at Ashoka University; Pushpa Aman Singh, CEO of Guidestar; and Santhosh Jayaram, partner and head (Sustainability) and CSR advisory at KPMG.

    In addition, Roopa Kudva, managing director of Omidyar Network India; Shaji Krishnan V, deputy MD of Nabard; Sanjeev Singhal, chairman of sustainability reporting standards board at ICAI; representatives of BSE, NSE and Sebi are also part of the technical group.

  • Union Budget 2019-20 announces creation of social stock exchange to help NGOs get funds

    Union Budget 2019-20 announces creation of social stock exchange to help NGOs get funds

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday proposed a plan to create a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) under the regulatory ambit of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that would allow the listing of social enterprises

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday proposed a plan to create a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) under the regulatory ambit of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that would allow the listing of social enterprises and voluntary organisations to help them raise funds for social welfare activities.

    These organisation would be allowed to ‘list” in the same way the private firms list themselves on a stock market.

    Presenting her maiden budget in Parliament, Sitharaman said, “It is time to take capital markets closer to the market and meet various social welfare objectives related to inclusive growth and financial inclusion.”

    “I propose to initiate steps towards creating an electronic fund-raising platform, a social stock exchange, under SEBI for listing social enterprises and volunteer organisations,” she said.

    The minister said that the exchange would help organisations to raise capital through equity, debt or a unit of mutual fund. Social stock exchanges make it easier for investors interesting in social entrepreneurship to find organisation to put money into, with a level of regulation about what the investment goes towards.

    They already exist in countries like United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, Jamaica and Kenya.

    However, this announcement comes at a time when the Centre has been criticised for putting roadblocks on the path of socially inclined non-governmental organisations.