NSE Equity Derivatives Vs BSE Equity Derivatives

Apart from the cash segment in the equity market, there is another important segment where huge volumes or trades take place on a daily basis providing a wide range of trading opportunities for the traders and more brokerage earning scope for exchange and brokers.

Yes, I’m talking about equity derivatives where you can find future and options contracts traded with different strike prices and expiration periods. Compared to equity cash, in derivatives, there are major trading activities with huge volumes of trade occurring on India’s top stock exchanges National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchanges (BSE).

Compared to retail investors and traders, trading in the derivatives segment is more popular among professional traders and fund managers who trade this segment with a hedging perspective. So, if you are interested in derivatives, in this article we are going to talk about equity derivatives on NSE and BSE with the comparison between these two exchanges.

Topics Covered :

• About NSE Equity Derivatives
• About BSE Equity Derivatives
• NSE Equity Derivatives Turnover
• BSE Equity Derivatives Turnover
• NSE Equity Derivatives Transaction Charges
• BSE Equity Derivatives Transaction Charges
• NSE Derivatives Market Share
• BSE Derivatives Market Share
• NSE Equity Derivatives List
• BSE Equity Derivatives List
• Conclusion: NSE or BSE Equity Derivatives, which one is better?

About NSE Equity Derivatives

The equity derivatives segment for trading on NSE was introduced in June 2000, with the initial launch of index futures. In the year 2001, the exchange introduced the Index Options (also based on Nifty 50) and launched individual securities. Both future and options on individual securities are allowed only the securities that meet the eligible criteria restricted by SEBI.

Currently on the NSE Equity derivatives segment, the indices that are traded on exchange are Derivatives on NIFTY 50, NIFTY Bank, NIFTY Financial Service, NIFTY Midcap Select and NIFTY Next 50. Apart from these five major indices, the NSE trades futures and options contracts in more than 180 individual securities. The equity derivatives segment provides you more useful insights about trading activities in the equity derivatives segment on NSE.

About BSE Equity Derivatives

The BSE introduced the first Exchange-traded Index Derivative Contract i.e. futures on the capital market benchmark index – the BSE Sensex in 2000. Trading in index options was started in Jun 2001 and stock options were introduced in Nov 2002.

In Sep 2004, in the derivatives markets, BSE launched the Weekly Options with the introduction of contracts allowed to trade in top leading companies shares Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Satyam Computers, and Tata Steel. Now BSE is also allowing derivatives trading in various indices and underlying securities eligible for trading in this segment.

NSE Equity Derivatives Turnover

Since the launch of derivatives trading for various indices and underlying securities, the turnover has increased significantly in the past years. As per the data available on NSE, the total turnover in equity derivatives has touched more than Rs 40000 Trillion in 2024-2025 from Rs 177 Trillion in the year 2009-2010 showing a CAGR growth of 43.5% in the last 15 years.

Data Source: NSE India

From 2009 to 2020, the yearly growth in the equity derivatives segment on NSE was in two digits, but from 2021 to 2024-25, this segment has shown three-digit growth showing high volume of trading activities and participation of traders in this segment.

Data Source: NSE India

While, on a monthly basis the turnover of equity derivatives on NSE was Rs 4117 Trillion in April 2023 that has surged to Rs 7218 Trillion in Mar 2024. The average monthly turnover of this segment in FY24 was Rs 6661 Trillion. This equity derivatives turnover on NSE includes the turnover of Index Futures, Stock Futures, Index Options and Stock Options.

BSE Equity Derivatives Turnover

The trading activities and volume of trade in the derivatives segment on BSE are less than NSE, hence the total turnover on equity derivatives on BSE stood at Rs 11829 Trillion from Apr 2024 to the first week of Sep 2024, while in the FY24, and the total turnover was Rs 8029 Trillion with an average daily turnover of Rs 34.61 trillion in the same period. However, the daily turnover in FY25 has increased to Rs 108.52 Trillion showing the sign of major increase in the trading volume on BSE.

However, if we talk about the equity derivatives on BSE month-wise, the average monthly turnover between FY23 to FY24 was Rs 33 trillion. While the total turnover of equity derivatives on BSE in March 2024 stood at Rs 1519 trillion. The month of March 2024 has witnessed the highest average daily turnover of Rs 80 trillion on the BSE equity derivatives segment.

Recommended Read: What are the features of Derivatives Market

NSE Equity Derivatives Transaction Charges

The transaction charges are fees or charges you have to pay for trading in the various segments of the equity market. However, exchanges like NSE or BSE keep revising the transaction charges from time to time depending on their own discretion.

However, as per the latest updates after the last revision in March, the NSE’s transaction charges for the derivatives futures segment are 0.0019%, while for options, it stands at 0.05% and for the equity segment it is 0.00325%. The transaction charges are lower for the higher volume, for detailed transaction charges on NSE Equity Derivatives you can visit on NSE website. 

BSE Equity Derivatives Transaction Charges

Sources: NSE & BSE

NSE Derivatives Market Share

There is no doubt, that NSE has captured the highest chunk of market share in equity derivatives, and one of the biggest reasons behind that is the participation of institutional as well as retail traders in this segment increased with the significant growth.

Even NSE continued as the world’s largest derivatives exchange for the fifth consecutive year in 2023. However, in 2023, as per the World Federation of Exchanges in the equity segment by number of trades (electronic order book), it is ranked third in the world.

As per the latest reports in May, the market share of NSE in Derivatives-based average daily trading volume (ADTV) is around 79.40%. The report says that out of overall ADTV of Rs 432 trillion, in April 2024, NSE saw a month-on-month decline for the second straight month to Rs 343 trillion, this decline shows the market share of NSE in the derivatives segment is decreasing due to a shift to BSE.

BSE Derivatives Market Share

In April 2024, the average daily trading volume (ADTV) for BSE stood at Rs 89 trillion showing a 20.6% market share of the bourse based on notional volumes for options of overall ADTV of Rs 432 trillion. It is increasing its market share in this segment and giving competition to NSE which has been enjoying a monopoly in the derivatives trading segment.

NSE Equity Derivatives List

In the derivatives segment, only a few securities are eligible for trading and these securities are also excluded and included as per the change in the eligibility criteria. Currently, as per the latest updates on NSE, there are 5 underlying securities of indices eligible for derivatives trading.

However, in the individual securities, currently, only 180 stocks are allowed or eligible to trade in the derivatives segment. And to know the name or symbol of all underlying securities you can check the NSE Equity Derivatives List with other information given here.

BSE Equity Derivatives List

Currently, BSE has included only 3 indexes that are allowed to trade in the derivatives segment and these indices are SENSEX, BANKEX and SX50 (Senesex-50) with the three-month parallel contracts traded on the exchange for futures and options trading.

While in the individual securities, BSE has also included 180 select stocks that can be traded in the derivatives segment. To see the complete list of BSE equity underlying scurrilities you have to visit the website of BSE and click on Futures & Options Underlying Asset List.

Conclusion: NSE or BSE Equity Derivatives, which one is better?

Trading in the derivatives segment is riskier than cash or delivery-based trading. However, in the F&O segment, you can get a wide range of options to trade in different underlying securities including the main indices providing you better opportunity to trade.

NSE and BSE now both have advanced trading mechanisms to manage the huge volume of trade in the derivatives segment with no errors. Though, NSE is the market leader in the derivatives segment with approx. 80% market share and BSE enjoys only remaining 20% market share in this segment which has grown significantly in the last few years.

One of the main reasons behind the monopoly of NSE in the derivatives segment was, that BSE introduced derivatives trading later than NSE, and its trading platform was not efficient enough at that time. But now the scenario has changed both exchanges have the most advanced trading system with high-speed execution of transactions with accuracy.

Though the transaction charges on NSE are higher than BSE, BSE is also gaining market share. Hence, you can choose any of the exchanges for equity derivatives trading depending on your ease and which one is more economical as per your trading strategy.

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