Gandhinagar: Around five months after the BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchage) opened its International exchange (first one in the country) at GIFT city, another leading stock exchange, the National Stock Exchange today also launched its global exchange, NSE IFSC, in this first International Financial Services Center (IFSC) situated near Gujarat capital Gandhinagar.

The NSE IFSC was launched in presence of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minsiter of Gujarat Nitin Patel and SEBI Chairman Ajay Tyagi. NSE Chairman Ashok Chawla, Chief Secretary Gujarat Dr. J. N. Singh , Development Commissioner, Kandla SEZ Upendra Vasishth, Chairman-GIFT Sudhir Mankad,and GIFT City MD & Group CEO Ajay Pandey, were also present for the inaugural bell ringing.

The NSE IFSC Limited (NSE IFSC) and NSE IFSC Clearing Corporation Limited (NICCL) have been formed as 100% subsidiary companies of NSE and National Securities Clearing Corporation Limited (NSCCL) respectively, to operate as a stock exchange and clearing corporation respectively from GIFT.

GIFT City is India’s first operational smart city with a multi- industry India centric services zone as well as the SEZ that houses the IFSC as a hub for Global Financial markets akin to London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In the initial period, trading at NSE IFSC will take place for 16 hours, which will be gradually expanded in line with market feedback. There will be two trading sessions, the first between 8 am and 5 pm and the second between 5.30 pm and 11.30 pm. With these trading hours, there will be an overlap with the London and Dubai markets and will allow investors to react to news developments, over a longer period of time.

NSE Chairman Ashok Chawla said, “The idea of developing an international financial center in India has been discussed several times in the past, but we are seeing the transformation of this vision into reality only today. The launch of NSE IFSC is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to make India a global financial hub.’’

He further added, “We will be offering a bouquet of products to global investors and market participants, which will include derivatives on Nifty indices, Indian stocks, commodity and currency products, which are popular among investors. In the years to come, we hope to make it a leading global marketplace, in a special zone which is cost-competitive with its global peers.”

To start with, the stock derivatives will include futures and options on 10 Indian stocks, including Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Larsen and Toubro, Maruti, Reliance Industries, SBI, Tata Motors and TCS. Index Derivatives will be traded on leading Nifty indices namely Nifty 50, Nifty Bank and Nifty IT. In addition derivatives will be available on precious metals Gold & Silver and currency derivatives on leading global currency pairs of EUR-USD and GBP-USD.

NSE CEO In-charge, J Ravichandran said, “We are confident that in the coming years, NSE IFSC will become an attractive marketplace for global investors, who have shown tremendous faith in the growth story of India and Indian markets. NSE IFSC will remain strongly committed to the development of the GIFT IFSC as a global IFSC and will continue its efforts to build the required ecosystem for the success of NSE IFSC”.

The clearing and settlement of all trades executed on NSE IFSC will be managed by the NSE IFSC clearing corporation. Two clearing banks namely ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank are already onboard as the clearing banks for funds settlement.

SEBI Chairman Mr Tyagi in his address said, “Globalization is a great opportunity for developing countries and the GIFT IFSC offers an opportunity to develop our own market as a global International Financial Services Centre. In this context, I would like to congratulate NSE for launching their global exchange – the NSE IFSC in GIFT IFSC. This will be another trading venue for global investors and other market participants to transact in non-INR currency denomination at internationally competitive transaction costs.”

GIFT City MD and CEO Mr Pandey said, “It is a momentous occasion for us to have India’s biggest stock exchange present in GIFT City. With NSE commencing operations at GIFT IFSC, the capital market vertical of India’s first IFSC hub is further strengthened. It is a major step forward for India to be a ‘price setter’ of the financial world in the coming years, as envisioned by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi.”

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the India International Exchange of the BSE at GIFT city on January 9.

DeshGujarat