Mohandas Pai pitches for listing of startups

Pitching for startups to go public, T V Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education, said listing will provide liquidity and create brand value for such entities.

He said listing is something that needs to be looked at. "I believe if startups are not prepared to go to main bourse then they must go for small companies markets to list as listing provides liquidity, creates brand and gives discipline," Pai, who is also an angel investor, told PTI here.

"The major challenge for India has been exits, there has been exits but we need large exits. I think in the next one year, may be 4-5 startups will get listed," he said.

Pai further said if such startups go for listing, pricing should be attractive as attractively priced IPO will get good returns.

Further, to encourage startups for listing, leading bourse National Stock Exchange (NSE) is also going to hold a meet in Bengaluru tomorrow to talk to such entities whether they could access the markets for small companies.

The institutional trading platform (ITP) is yet to see any startup listing ever since an easier set of compliance and disclosure requirements was notified by markets regulator Sebi in August 2015.

These norms have been put in place to encourage Indian startups and entrepreneurs to remain within the country rather than go abroad for funds.

Pai, who has invested in many startups, said he is personally fond of listing. "We have at least 250 startups across 10 funds, we are preparing them so that they come to a listing stage as I'm very fond of listing as listing creates great value to everybody," he said.

Currently, there are 32,000 startups and every year 7,000 companies are coming around.

Further, the number of startups will reach one lakh by 2025 creating USD 500 billion of value and they will employ 3.25 million people, Pai said.

He said India has possibly got the third largest ecosystem for startups after the US and China. "Youngsters through the use of technology are solving hard core challenges and I believe that innovation by young people will transform India," he said.

The impact has already been seen in many sectors including education, healthcare, education and e-commerce.