Overview

• SEBI is actively considering revisions to allow nearly all stocks, not just the 224 F&O listings, to be borrowed for short sales and to relax or remove rapid disclosure mandates.
• Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath has criticised India’s offline securities lending framework for preventing scalable short selling and is leading development of a digital SLB solution.
• Today’s short sellers are limited to futures and options on about 224 stocks, facing monthly contract expiries and high rollover costs that deter broad participation.
• Zerodha plans to launch its online securities lending and borrowing platform by the end of the year to simplify borrowing processes and expand market access.
• Analysts warn that without easier short-selling mechanisms, price discovery will remain impaired and valuation distortions will persist in India’s structurally long-only equity market.