Grace Cancer Foundation (GCF), a Hyderabad-based charitable trust established in 2013 by surgical oncologist Dr Chinnababu Sunkavalli, marked its Social Stock Exchange (SSE) listing with a bell-ringing ceremony at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) headquarters in Mumbai. The ceremony marks the 18th listing on the NSE Social Stock Exchange. EQUIPPP is the Advisor to the Issue.
The ceremony, titled ‘Celebrating a Milestone in Social Impact’, marked the listing of the Foundation’s oversubscribed ₹1 crore Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP) issue, which opened from October 7 to October 9, 2026, and closed with over 100 per cent subscription.
Mr Shailesh Pathak, Senior Advisor, National Stock Exchange of India, and Mr Lakshmi Narayana and Sai Kiran from EQUIPPP, among others, attended the bell-ringing ceremony.
The funds raised through the SSE listing will support early detection and 10,000 cancer screenings for underserved communities across North Telangana. GCF also pledged support to collaborate with EQUIPPP’s Constituency Development Framework and take up projects in the Kodangal and Manthani pilots.
“Inside the operation theatre, as a surgeon, I can operate on only one patient at a time. But outside the operation theatre, through preventive healthcare, early detection and large-scale screening programmes, I can reach millions of people and help prevent them from ever having to enter an operation theatre. That is where I believe my impact as a doctor can be multiplied many times over” said Dr Chinnababu Sunkavalli, Founder of Grace Cancer Foundation.
” If you can raise ₹1 crore to screen people in just two Assembly constituencies, why can’t you raise ₹1 crore every month across Telangana? With 119 Assembly constituencies, the state offers tremendous potential for mobilising resources for cancer screening and preventive healthcare. We need to look at the Social Stock Exchange as an opportunity to scale up social impact across the state,” said Mr Shailesh Pathak.
The listing was facilitated with advisory and impact-assessment support from EQUIPPP. Retail donations were accepted through platforms such as Zerodha and ICICI Direct, starting at ₹1,000.
Unlike conventional stock market listings, where companies raise equity capital from investors, the Social Stock Exchange provides eligible non-profit organisations with a regulated platform to raise funds for social development. Grace Cancer Foundation undertook a public issue of ZCZP instruments aggregating up to ₹1 crore through the NSE Social Stock Exchange.
According to its Fund-Raising Document dated September 30, 2026, each instrument has a face value of ₹10, with a minimum application size of ₹1,000. The minimum subscription requirement for the issue is 75 per cent of the issue size, amounting to ₹75 lakh.
ZCZP instruments do not carry interest or repayment of principal. Contributions mobilised through this route are directed towards the stated social objectives, with the organisation required to comply with prescribed disclosure, governance and impact-reporting requirements.
Founded in 2013, Grace Cancer Foundation has been working in cancer awareness, early detection, screening, treatment support, rehabilitation and research. The organisation has undertaken public health initiatives and cancer awareness and screening programmes across multiple regions in India.
Its entry into the Social Stock Exchange represents a shift from conventional philanthropic funding towards a structured model of social finance.
The Foundation’s SSE registration number is NSESSENP000165. Its Fund-Raising Document identifies it as a public charitable trust registered in Hyderabad, with registrations under applicable provisions of the Income Tax Act and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
India’s Social Stock Exchange provides an alternative fundraising channel for non-profit organisations seeking to access a wider pool of socially conscious donors and impact contributors.
For NGOs, the platform offers an opportunity to demonstrate institutional credibility through disclosures, governance standards, financial accountability and measurable social outcomes. For contributors, it provides transparency about the organisations they support and the utilisation of funds.
The development comes amid the expansion of India’s CSR ecosystem, with corporates, philanthropists and individuals looking for organisations capable of demonstrating measurable social impact.