Calcutta Stock Exchange: Zero Trades, ₹215 Crore Profit. What Are CSE Shares Worth?

7, Lyons Range, Kolkata. A grand building from 1928, where brokers once shouted over one another and eastern India raised its capital. The Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) was founded in 1908, and for long stretches it was one of the most important exchanges in the country, at times rivalling Bombay.

In FY2025-26, CSE had 1,507 listed companies and about 500 registered brokers. Its trading volume was zero.

It still reported a profit after tax of ₹215.6 crore, after a ₹21.9 crore loss the year before.

This article explains how an exchange with no trading made ₹215 crore, what its balance sheet is really worth once you remove money that isn't CSE's, and what that means for anyone looking at CSE unlisted shares.

Key takeaways

• No trading since 2013. SEBI suspended trading at CSE in April 2013. A 2017 Calcutta High Court stay has kept it a recognised exchange in name only.
• The ₹215.6 crore profit came from one deal. A ₹253 crore sub-lease of 3 acres on Kolkata's E.M. Bypass produced a ₹249.3 crore gain. The underlying business earns about ₹12 crore a year before tax.
• CSE is really a treasury company. Interest and investment income (~₹15.7 crore) is about three times its ₹5.1 crore operating revenue.
• Net worth is ₹402 crore, but only ~₹109 crore is freely usable. Ring-fenced funds and a SEBI-liened FD account for the rest.
• No dividend; bonus shares instead. The land money is mostly locked with SEBI.
• Exit or revival is undecided. CSE applied to exit in February 2025, then asked SEBI in June 2026 to put that on hold after West Bengal backed a revival.
• At ShareSaathi's indicative ₹2,825 a share, CSE is valued at about ₹173 crore, well under half its book value.

How a stock exchange dies: slowly

The 1990s: NSE brought screen-based, nationwide trading. A Kolkata broker no longer needed a Kolkata exchange, and regional exchanges across India started losing volume.

2001: CSE went through a payments crisis linked to the Ketan Parekh scam. Brokers defaulted and trust took a heavy hit. That crisis still sits on the balance sheet today, as the next sections show.

2012: SEBI set minimum turnover and net-worth requirements for regional exchanges. Most could not meet them, and dozens shut down.

2013–2017: SEBI suspended trading at CSE from 3 April 2013 and began forcing it to exit in 2015. CSE went to the Calcutta High Court, which stayed the exit in 2017. Since then CSE has been in a "twilight state": still legally a recognised stock exchange, but not operating as one.

The business model of an exchange with no trading

A normal exchange earns from transaction fees, listing fees, and data and technology services. CSE has no trades and sells no data. What is left:

Revenue from operations was only ₹5.1 crore, down 55% in a year. Interest income was about three times that. In practice CSE is a treasury company that also maintains a list of companies nobody trades.

Where the ₹215 crore profit came from

CSE held the lease on 3 acres on Kolkata's E.M. Bypass. Property consultant JLL ran an auction, which Srijan Infrapromoters won with a bid of ₹253 crore. SEBI gave its no-objection in December 2025, shareholders approved the deal in January 2026, and the money came in.

After costs, the gain on the sub-lease was ₹249.3 crore, about 50 times CSE's operating revenue for the year. The land had been carried on the books at about ₹3.8 crore.

CSE also cut costs sharply. A voluntary retirement scheme accounted for most of the FY25 loss (a ₹21 crore provision) and now saves about ₹9 crore a year. Employee costs fell from ₹11.4 crore to ₹2.2 crore, and total expenses for FY26 were only ₹8.8 crore.

FY26 in one line: a one-time windfall of ~₹249 crore on top of a small, fairly steady business earning ~₹12 crore before tax.

The balance sheet: whose money is it?

On the surface CSE looks strong: ₹600 crore of total assets, no borrowings, and net worth up from ₹182 crore to ₹402 crore in a year.

But much of an exchange's balance sheet is other people's money held for safekeeping. It is worth separating what belongs to CSE from what it only holds for others.

1. The 2001 crisis, still on the books. Assets include ₹94.2 crore of "Receivable from defaulting members", money 15 brokers owe from settlements that failed years ago. Recovery suits are still in court, and CSE itself cannot say how much it will recover. Liabilities carry a matching ₹94.2 crore of "Sundry Deposits", put in by the Settlement Guarantee Fund and members to cover the crisis. It is repayable only if the defaulters pay. The two cancel out and add nothing to CSE's value.

2. Members' deposits. Brokers had to keep base-capital deposits with the exchange: ₹64.1 crore in shares, about ₹12 crore in FDs and ₹18 crore in cash. CSE holds these assets but they belong to the brokers, and they make up most of the ₹97 crore of current liabilities.

3. Ring-fenced funds. Two funds inside the ₹402 crore net worth cannot be spent freely:

• Settlement Guarantee Fund: ₹61.3 crore, a safety net for trades
• Investors' Service Fund: ₹16.3 crore, for investor protection and services

Both are held in earmarked FDs and government bonds, and their interest goes back into the funds.

What is actually CSE's

The ₹216 crore is the land money. SEBI approved the deal on condition that most of the proceeds sit in a fixed deposit with a lien in SEBI's favour, and another ₹34 crore went on capital gains tax. On paper the money is CSE's, but CSE cannot freely use it.

That is why a company with a ₹215 crore profit has declared no dividend and is issuing bonus shares instead: more shares, but no cash in hand.

CSE's money mostly sits in fixed deposits, with some in long-dated government securities (maturing in 2051 and 2061), PSU bonds and mutual funds. This portfolio produces the ~₹15.7 crore of annual interest. For CSE, the balance sheet effectively is the business.

Per-share numbers

CSE has only 6,11,250 shares with a face value of ₹1. Divided by that small share count:

EPS equal to more than half of book value in a single year does not happen in a normal business. It is the land windfall. Without it, the regular business earns a small fraction of that.

Bonus shares will change these numbers. Once the bonus is issued, the share count rises and every per-share figure falls in proportion. The annual report states the ratio two ways ("1:2" and "two shares for one"), which imply different share counts. Check the official corporate announcement before doing the maths, and make sure any unlisted price you compare against is on the same pre- or post-bonus basis.

Hidden value in the property

Accounting rules record assets at historical cost, not today's value. CSE's property, plant and equipment is shown at only ₹27.7 crore, and its freehold land at a cost of about ₹4.15 lakh.

For an exchange that has held prime Kolkata property for decades, the market value is very likely far higher. The E.M. Bypass deal proved it: land carried at ~₹3.8 crore fetched ₹253 crore. The Lyons Range building is not included in these figures at market value.

SEBI has appointed a valuation agency as part of the exit process. How much CSE is really worth, and who gets that value, is still to be decided.

Exit or revival?

The exit path. In February 2025 CSE applied to SEBI to voluntarily exit the stock exchange business, and shareholders approved it at an EGM. SEBI appointed a valuation agency to assess its assets and liabilities. Under this route CSE stops being an exchange and is worth roughly its net assets.

The revival path. West Bengal's 2026-27 budget said the state would support reviving the 118-year-old exchange to "reclaim Kolkata's place as a financial capital". In June 2026, CSE's board asked SEBI to put its exit application on hold.

The revival plan in the annual report is ambitious: green bonds, blue bonds, carbon credits, SME and MSME listings, urban infrastructure financing, even a mutual fund business. For clearing and settlement, CSE would set up its own clearing corporation or tie up with ICCL or NSE Clearing.

Every part of that plan needs things CSE does not have today:

• SEBI approval, from a regulator that has been trying to close CSE since 2015
• Anchor investors with enough capital and "fit and proper" credentials
• Technology that can compete with NSE and BSE
• Liquidity: traders and issuers who choose CSE over two exchanges that already dominate Indian trading

Liquidity is the hardest. Exchanges have strong network effects, because traders go where other traders are. Niches like green bonds or carbon credits might give CSE a way in, but that is far from certain. For how a smaller exchange fares against the incumbents, see NSE vs MSEI unlisted shares.

What this means for CSE unlisted shares

At ShareSaathi's indicative price of ₹2,825 a share, CSE's 6,11,250 shares value the exchange at about ₹173 crore:

(Pre-bonus share count. Recalculate once the bonus is confirmed and check that the quoted price is on the same basis.)

In simple terms, the market prices CSE below its own reserves but above the cash it can actually spend today. That discount reflects real uncertainty:

• The liened ₹216 crore may stay locked, be released, or be claimed in an exit settlement.
• Exit vs revival. An exit returns roughly net asset value, minus costs, taxes and time. A revival would need fresh capital, which could dilute existing holders, and has a low probability of success.
• Legal overhang. The ₹94 crore defaulter matter and years of litigation with SEBI are unresolved.
• No dividends so far and no clear route for cash to reach shareholders.
• Illiquidity. CSE shares trade rarely and in small lots, and prices are indicative.

Upside triggers to watch: release of the SEBI lien, a clear exit valuation from SEBI's agency, further monetisation of property, or a credible revival partner with capital.

The takeaway

For now, CSE is best seen as a cash-rich shell with a stock exchange licence and a lot of history. Its routine business earns a modest income from interest and listing fees. Remove the old crisis entry, the brokers' deposits and the ring-fenced funds, and CSE owns about ₹325 crore, of which two-thirds is locked with SEBI. There may be more value in property the books do not show.

Its biggest asset turned out to be land, not market infrastructure, and its future depends more on regulators and state politics than on its own operations.

Will the Calcutta Stock Exchange ring its opening bell again, or become a heritage building with a large bank balance? We will be watching. Track the latest indicative price on the CSE unlisted shares page.

FAQs

Does the Calcutta Stock Exchange still operate? It is still legally a recognised stock exchange, but there has been no trading since SEBI suspended it in April 2013. A 2017 Calcutta High Court stay stopped SEBI's forced exit.

How did CSE make a ₹215 crore profit with no trading? Almost entirely from sub-leasing 3 acres on Kolkata's E.M. Bypass to Srijan Infrapromoters for ₹253 crore, which gave a ₹249.3 crore gain. Excluding that, the business earns about ₹12 crore a year before tax, mostly interest.

Why isn't CSE paying a dividend? SEBI required most of the land proceeds (₹216 crore) to be held in an FD with a lien in its favour, and ₹34 crore went on capital gains tax. CSE is issuing bonus shares instead of paying cash.

What is CSE's book value per share? About ₹6,578 on ₹402 crore of net worth and 6,11,250 shares, before the bonus issue. Excluding ring-fenced funds, own reserves are about ₹5,317 a share.

Is CSE going to shut down or be revived? Undecided. CSE applied to exit in February 2025, but in June 2026 asked SEBI to put the application on hold after West Bengal backed a revival. Any revival needs SEBI approval, investors, technology and liquidity.

Can I buy Calcutta Stock Exchange shares? CSE is not listed on any exchange, but its shares trade in the unlisted market and settle as off-market demat transfers.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell. Figures are drawn from CSE's FY2025-26 annual report and public disclosures and may be revised. Per-share figures use the pre-bonus share count; the bonus ratio should be confirmed from the official announcement. Valuation ratios use ShareSaathi's indicative price, which may change. Unlisted shares are illiquid, prices are not exchange-quoted, the outcome of CSE's exit or revival is uncertain, and investors can lose capital. Please do your own research or consult a SEBI-registered adviser before investing.