BSE MD & CEO says STT hike not for the first time, a move towards long-term investing

Sundararaman Ramamurthy, the Managing Director and CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), told CNBC-TV18 in an exclusive conversation that the hike in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) in the Futures & Options space is not for the first time and indicates that the government wants to encourage people to move more towards long-term investing.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2026 speech on Sunday, February 1, increased STT on futures trading by 150% and on options trading by 50%.

The move led to a sharp sell-off in the equity markets, particularly in the capital market linked names such as BSE, Angel One, and Groww, which fell up to 15% intraday, before staging a minor recovery. For BSE, nearly 55% of its topline comes from the F&O segment.
Ramamurthy said that this is not the first time that STT has increased and everytime such an instance happens, the market reacts the way it has today.The BSE MD & CEO went on to add that although he cannot quantify a near-term impact of the STT increase, there is unlikely to be a dip in market volumes over the medium to long-term.

Calling it a change in sentiment, Ramamurthy said that it is unlikely to actually lead to a dip in actual investing.

Shares of BSE are currently trading 7% lower, while those of Angel One are trading with losses of up to 8%. Shares of Billionbrains Garage Ventures (Groww) are also trading with losses of over 8%.