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Ahmedabad stock market building should be preserved: Traders

The traders want the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange, with the help of some corporate houses, should try to raise funds and convert the building into a knowledge zone on capital markets.

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The board of the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange (ASE) might have decided to sell its historic building at Manekchowk, but those having traded in the building and possessing a sense of emotional attachment with it say the building should be preserved for the posterity. Their argument is that it should not be sold out so that it is demolished but it can be sold to somebody who will maintain and preserve it.

The ASE board recently decided to sell the Manekchowk building by auction to raise funds for the half-constructed Ellisbridge building. The Manekchowk building has been left unused for about 15 years after the trading operations were shifted to Panjrapol in 1996.

Before the operations were shifted to Panjrapol, the board wanted to build a spacious building at Ellisbridge but the project was never completed.

Old-time traders say they are emotionally attached to the Manekchowk building. They all had participated in the ‘open outcry’ system of trading at that time. They feel that it’s a wrong decision to sell the building and fear that the selling of the building may lead to its demolition, which will erase a monument from the city’s economic history.

Past president of Gujarat Investors and Shareholders Association, Chinu Shah, said: “The only solution I feel remains for the building is that ASE with the help of some corporate houses should try to raise funds and convert it into a knowledge zone on capital markets.

This would preserve the value of the building and also resolve the issues that the ASE is facing.” But others argue that considering the condition in which the building now stands, it is advisable to sell the building.

They point out that the ASE is not able to maintain the building so selling it is the best option as that would transfer the rights of the building to someone who would preserve it.

Pravin Ratilal Sharedalal, who became a member of ASE in 1957 at Manekchowk and is now retired, says: “This building is not yet a heritage as it has not completed 100 years yet. Since the exchange was shifted to Kamdhenu complex in Panjrapol in 1996, the Manekchowk building is lying idle. It is better to sell it so that someone else would take care of and maintain it.”

He said the ASE wanted to sell the building even earlier. “Some 15 to 20 years back, they tried to sell it by auction but did not get a single buyer as Rani no Haziro stands right behind the building,” said Sharedalal.

A former member of ASE board said, “The building is in a ruined condition and so selling the building to someone who can preserve its originality is needed. Also, ASE is unable to maintain the building and thus the funds received through the
sale would help the stock exchange come out of its current financial crisis.”

The Manekchowk building of ASE was built in 1921. However, trading activity had started in the city in 1884 through establishment of an exchange under a banyan tree.

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