New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- Recent months have seen a rush for the unlisted shares of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) among retail investors, causing a more than fourfold surge in the number of such shareholders at India's largest bourse.

The count has jumped from 33,896 as of 31 March 2024 to 146,208 as of 30 June this year. But it's not just the NSE. Tata Capital, the Metropolitan Stock Exchange and the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange are among the companies that have seen investor appetite for their unlisted shares grow.

However, investing in unlisted shares is not as straightforward as buying and selling listed stocks. The intermediaries include dealers working offline and online platforms. While investors hope to e...