Stock Round

18 India's Stock Round: one selling turn each, then buying in turn order — from your hand, the IPO, the Open Market or the Royal Bonds — certificate limits, passing, and changes of Director or Manager.

Selling turn

Each Stock Round starts with one selling turn per player, in turn order. It is your only chance to sell this round. Sell any number of certificates in play in your portfolio (never from your hand) to the Open Market:

shares at the current market price (face value if the Company has no price yet); a Director’s Certificate counts as two shares;
the price does not drop when shares are sold;
Private Companies and Royal Bonds at face value (bonds go back beside the Open Market).

You may sell a Director’s Certificate only if another player owns at least two shares: it is swapped with the player who owns most (ties: the next in turn order from you), and two of the sold shares go to the Open Market. A Manager may always sell all their shares.

Unlike most 18xx games, selling a Company’s shares does not stop you buying it again in the same round — even the same certificates.

Buying

Then, in turn order, each player either passes or takes one purchase:

From your hand: any number of certificates of one Company (or any number of Private Companies). Pay each printed value into that Company’s treasury (onto its charter if not floated); Privates are paid to the bank.
From the IPO (from the second Stock Round): the top one or two certificates of one row, paying the printed values to the Companies.
From the Open Market: one certificate, at market price, to the bank.
A Royal Bond: ₹100 to the bank.
Convert a Royal Bond (Phase IV): see Royal Bonds.

There is no limit on how much of one Company you may own, nor on how many shares may sit in the Open Market.

Certificate limits

Players	No Company closed	1 closed	2+ closed
2	37	33	29
3	23	22	19
4	18	17	15
5	15	13	12

Counts: railway certificates in play in your portfolio (a Director’s Certificate is one), Private Companies. Does not count: Royal Bonds, your hand, certificates your Companies own. You may not buy or convert past the limit; if you end up over it (a change of Director), sell down at your next selling turn — if the game ends first, you keep everything. A Company may own at most 3 certificates.

Passing

Pass when you do not want to buy. The first to pass takes the first space of the pass order track, and so on: that is next round’s turn order. You may re-enter after passing — move your marker back and shift the later ones up. The round ends when everyone has passed in a row.

Change of Director or Manager

Whoever owns more of a Company than the current Director or Manager — by buying, or because the other sold — takes over, with the charter and all the Company’s assets.
Ties after a sale: the next player in turn order from the previous Director/Manager.
A Company is never Director or Manager of another Company.
No price change at the end of a Stock Round, even for Companies wholly owned by players.