NEW DELHI, Oct 6: As part of its move to expand operations nationwide, the Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) is signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange (ASE) on Wednesday for setting up its trading terminals in Ahmedabad.

According to the agreement, the DSE would be installing its trading terminals at the ASE and ASE's trading terminals would be installed at the Delhi bourse. However, the DSE is yet to obtain permission for setting up its Rs 125-crore trade guarantee fund (TGF) which is mandatory for expanding its operations outside the capital.

The agreement would be the first of its kind with two regional stock exchanges. The DSE plans to install its terminals outside Delhi by November-end and is expected to sign similar MoUs with other regional stock exchanges soon.

Highly placed sources in the stock exchange said that DSE president Deepak Chowdhry along with vice-president Subhash Chugh, director Kailash Jain and executive director S S Sodhi, would be visiting Ahmedabad to sign the MoU. After Ahmedabad, DSE would enter into an agreement with the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE), they added.

As per the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines, for installing trading terminals at a centre, a stock exchange has to enter into an agreement with that centre's exchange. If there is no stock exchange in that centre, the TGF approval would be required to install trading terminals.

The DSE's plan to set up terminals outside Delhi by November-end seems ambitious given the fact that it has not yet received approval for its Rs 125-crore TGF. Chowdhry, however, seemed optimistic that the stock exchange would be able to expand its trading operations outside Delhi by November-end. ``The TGF approval is expected within 10 days,'' he said. The SEBI has already given an in-principle approval to the DSE's TGF.

DSE sources said that after approval for the TGF was received, the stock exchange would require about two months to install terminals outside Delhi.

``We intend setting up our trading terminals in almost every stock exchange of the country, providing the small investor the benefit of trading at his doorstep'', he added. Chawdhry said the number of terminals to be installed at Ahmedabad and other stock exchanges would depend on the DSE members themselves. According to sources in the broking community, it took the Bombay Stock Exchange more than a year to get approval for its trade guarantee fund, the first such fund in the country.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.