he National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday said it has collaborated with the West Bengal government to spread awareness amongst MSMEs in the state regarding fundraising through IPO mechanism using the bourse's SME platform.

As part of the pact, NSE with the support of West Bengal government will conduct awareness drives through seminars, MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises)camps, knowledge sessions, road shows, workshops to guide corporates across the state for fundraising on its SME platform, Emerge, and handhold companies in the listing process, the bourse said in a statement.

"Today at the Bengal Global Business Summit, we have signed a MoU with the NSE to encourage and support the MSMEs of our state to pursue the capital market for growth opportunities.

"Listing on the capital market shall help them raise capital to fuel their growth story. This shall provide an opportunity to showcase their business to a larger set of investors through NSE Emerge platform," Rajesh Pandey, Principal Secretary, MSME and Textiles Department to West Bengal government, said.

Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer at NSE, said that the platform helps SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) to raise capital in an efficient manner and increase their visibility through the listing on the stock exchange.

Currently, NSE's SME Emerge platform has 396 companies from various sectors listed and total funds raised on the platform till date is over Rs 7,800 crore. The market capitalisation of these companies has crossed Rs 94,000 crore.

The platform has 16 companies listed from West Bengal on the platform with collectively fund mobilisation of over Rs 224 crore.