SEBI's Board, at its June 19, 2025 meeting in Mumbai, approved transferring the Social Stock Exchange's Capacity Building Fund administration from NABARD to a dedicated Section 8 company. The fund supports non-profit organisations listed or seeking listing on the SSE. Section 8 companies are non-profit entities under the Companies Act, 2013. This structural shift aims to improve focused governance, operational efficiency, and accountability of the fund supporting India's social enterprise ecosystem.

India's Social Stock Exchange (SSE), launched under NSE and BSE as a separate segment, was conceived to help non-profit organisations (NPOs) and for-profit social enterprises raise capital from impact investors. However, unlike conventional listed entities, most NPOs lack financial literacy, disclosure capacity, and investor readiness. The Capacity Building Fund (CBF) was created precisely to bridge this gap — funding training, compliance support, and handholding for these organisations.

Initially, NABARD was designated to administer the CBF, leveraging its rural development mandate and outreach. However, NABARD's primary domain is agricultural credit and rural finance, making it a structurally misaligned custodian for a capital-markets-linked social enterprise fund. SEBI's June 2025 decision to migrate this to a dedicated Section 8 company signals a maturation of the SSE architecture — creating a purpose-built, non-profit entity solely focused on SSE-ecosystem capacity building.

A Section 8 company under the Companies Act, 2013 is incorporated specifically for promoting commerce, art, science, charity, or social welfare, and cannot distribute profits to members. This makes it constitutionally appropriate for holding and deploying a fund meant entirely for social impact. For UPSC aspirants, this is a case study in regulatory institutional design — how SEBI, as a securities market regulator, is building enabling infrastructure rather than just enforcement mechanisms for the emerging impact investment space in India.