INDUSTRIAL VISIT AT BSE, RBI MUSEUM AND HERITAGE WALK

School of Business and Management from CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Pune Lavasa Campus organized an educational visit to the Bombay Stock Exchange and RBI Monetary Museum followed by a Heritage walk on 7th February 2023. There were 21 students in the guidance of Dr. Danish Hussain, Prof. Mohit Boralkar and Prof. Shrutika Mishra. Mumbai being the financial capital of the country is also the home for major financial institutions and headquarters of the regulatory authorities. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is one of its gems, which was established in the year 1875. It is the oldest stock exchange in Asia. It became the first stock exchange recognized by the Indian government under the securities contract’s regulation Act 1957.

The students departed from the campus at 7:00 AM and reached RBI museum at 12:30 PM and were welcomed by Ms. Ritvi Patel. She accompanied and guided the students to RBI Monetary Museum, where students witnessed the different currency forms from ancient times till date. Coins of precious metals such as gold, copper and silver were showcased in the reverse chronology in the museum, ranging from 400 BC till date. Students also get the opportunity to see some of the oldest forms of commercial papers, the original copies were preserved in the museum along with some of the hand written journals and mechanical calculators which were used by then. Later on, students were shown a documentary on the history and development of Indian currency which ended by 2:45 PM.

Later, students reached BSE around 3:00 PM. They had a session in the Brokers Forum room on the 8th floor of the building. Mr. Qureshi, Head Finance & Operations, Broker’s Forum, BSE, Mumbai interacted with the students. During his interaction he considered BSE as the “Barometer” of the nation’s economy and provided some interesting information about the Stock Market. He also highlighted the proportionate investments made in BSE through FDI. Followed by a question answer session after his talk, he gave a gist about the recent decline in the stock prices of Adani Enterprises and how inflation impacts the current market scenario. He also advised the students regarding what stocks they should invest in and how long they should hold the stocks.

After the session at BSE, all the students were taken for the Heritage Walk. The guide, Mr. Purv Shah, informed the students about the Asiatic Library, which was started in 1804 by Sir James Mackintosh. In the early 60s, the Asiatic Library was known as the Town Hall, and people from different countries including Queen Victoria visited the place as it is located near the Port. He also described how Mumbai was renamed to Bombay and from Bombay to Mumbai again. Further, he stated the reasons for establishment of the city as a place for trade due to its geographical location and historical importance. Mumbai since ages was the attraction for traders across the globe and as a result in today’s date also it’s the favorite place for most of the key players in the field of finance and trade such as BSE, NSE, RBI, SEBI, Headquarters of most of the Commercial banks in the country, it is also famous for some historical monuments and monuments of national importance such as Asiatic Library, Gate way of India, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Taj Hotel which is situated nearby the Port for ease of connectivity and access.

The visit was a huge success. Every student got practical exposure to the current business dynamics and also got to know about the coinage of India from ancient times till date.