MUMBAI, May 14 Reuters Indias markets regulator and exchanges will tighten rules for public offers of small and medium enterprises SMEs, according to two sources, after complaints of misuse of a separate listing platform introduced in 2012 to enable small businesses access the capital markets.

The regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI, is considering raising the minimum size of such public offers to 300 million500 million Indian rupees 3.59 million5.99 million, said the two sources who are directly familiar with the discussions.

The news rules are slated to be issued later this year after the regulator and exchanges consult stakeholders, they said.

Currently there is no minimum issue size prescribed but companies listing on the platform are required to have a post issue capital base of 250 million rupees.

A minimum offer size will ensure that serious companies are accessing the capital markets and in turn safeguard the interest of investors, said one of the two sources.

The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media.

The markets regulator and exchanges, who implement the policies on behalf of the regulator, did not reply to requests for comment.

Buoyed by India39;s surging equity markets, public issues by SMEs soared in the financial year ending March 2024 to 205 companies raising 60 billion rupees compared to the 125 firms that raised 22 billion rupees in the previous year, according to PRIME Database, a…