NCDEX plans to set up exchange in GIFT City
An agreement was signed between GIFT SEZ and NCDEX on Thursday at Gandhinagar, according to a joint media statement
Ahmedabad: National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX), India’s leading online commodity exchange, said it will set up an international commodity and derivatives exchange in the special economic zone (SEZ) area being developed at the country’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) by Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Co. Ltd (GIFTCL) known as GIFT City.
An agreement was signed between GIFT SEZ and NCDEX on Thursday at Gandhinagar, according to a joint media statement.
“This tie-up will allow Indian and international entities to deal in financial products and services from India, making GIFT-India as one of the foremost International Financial Centres in the world,” according to Samir Shah, managing director of NCDEX.
The commodity bourse intends to develop an international standard commodity and derivatives exchange providing electronic platform for facilitating trading, clearing and settlement of securities, commodities, interest rates, currencies, other classes of assets and derivatives by international investors in GIFT SEZ, the statement said. This is however subject to necessary approvals and operating guidelines for International Financial Services Centre.
Of the 880 acres allotted to GIFT City by the state government, the SEZ, spread over 250 acres, has been notified as an International Financial Services Centre by the government of India.
Earlier this month, finance minister Arun Jaitley had released the regulatory norms for International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India at a conference on ‘Regulatory Framework for IFSC in India’ in Gandhinagar.
Senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) announced respective regulations at this conference.
Jaitley had said that through GIFT City, Gujarat has done pioneering work to create a Global Smart City in India and the IFSC at GIFT City will become a landmark for the country.
India’s first IFSC will be on par with international financial centres like Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.
In February, National Stock Exchange of India Ltd announced the creation of an international exchange in GIFT. The bourse followed BSE Ltd, which in January signed a similar deal with GIFT that entails an investment of Rs.150 crore.
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd on Friday signed an agreement to set up an offshore banking unit in GIFT City.
