India is not the derivatives capital of the world, though we have been made to believe that, said NSE MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan, while outlining the progress of the country’s market infrastructure and the role of technology in capital markets.
Reflecting on how far markets have progressed, he said that earlier many participants in India struggled with even 10,000 trades, but the systems have since expanded significantly. The National Stock Exchange now matches trades at nanosecond speeds, making transaction responses faster than a millisecond.
Chauhan added that India runs full-scale live operations from disaster recovery systems to ensure continuity during critical events. Defence centres use real-time intelligence and analytics to monitor risks, including during large political events.
On investor trust, he noted that India has come a long way in the 79 years since Independence. Trust from investors, citizens, and entrepreneurs has been built through robust regulation by SEBI and the market infrastructure institutions.
This, he said, has created stronger protections for minority shareholders, improved board diversity, and enhanced corporate governance standards.
He said governance frameworks now combine technology, transparency, and innovation to create a system that supports market growth, capital formation, and entrepreneurship. NSE’s role has been to extend market access to both small and large investors across even the remotest corners of India.
He mentioned that the real test of India’s financial market systems came during phases of stress management in derivatives cycles, where institutions such as NSDL, CDSL, and NCL played a key role. According to him, centralised clearing and settlement systems have reduced risks and improved efficiencies for investors.
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