Gandhinagar(Gujarat)[India], Jan. 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the India International Exchange (INX), the first international exchange from India at International Financial Service Centre (IFSC), Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) City, Gujarat,calling it as momentous for the financial sector.
India INX is one of the world's most advanced technology platforms with a turn-around time of 4 micro seconds.
It will operate for 22 hours a day to allow international investors and Non Residents Indians(NRI) to trade from anywhere across the globe.
"Inauguration of India International Exchange is a momentous occasion for India's financial sector. The new exchange will surely set new standards for quality of service and speed of transactions across time zones," Prime Minister Modi said.
The India INX is a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE Ltd is expected to start trading middle of this month.
"With a combination of talent and technology, Indian companies can compete with offshore financial centres," he added.
"BSE is a pioneer in the world of financial services and launch of the India International Exchange (INX) is its foremost achievement.
We are sure that this new facility will act as a gateway to raise capital for the country's infrastructure and development needs," chairman, BSE, Sudhakar Rao said.
As many as 250 trading members, including commodity and overseas brokers, have expressed interest to function from India INX.
Exchange hopes that all types of participants develop a self-reinforcing ecosystem that makes it competitive with financial centres globally.
The exchange can trade securities and products other than Indian rupees. The securities and products that could be traded on the India INX are: equity shares of companies incorporated outside India, depository receipts, debt securities, currency and interest rate derivatives, index based derivatives, commodity derivatives and such other securities that may be allowed.
"Prime Minister of India and then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, had the vision of setting up a global financial centre in India in the league of leading international financial centres such as London, Hong Kong, Singapore (and) New York," MD and Group CEO of GIFT City, Ajay Pandey said.
The facilities in the India INX would enable a comprehensive single segment access for currency, commodities, equities and fixed income derivatives.
It proposes to start trading initially in equity derivatives, currency derivatives, commodity derivatives including Index and Stocks.
Subsequently, depository receipts and bonds would be offered once the required infrastructure for the same is in place.
The exchange being located in IFSC, GIFT City, provides a competitive advantage in terms of tax structure and supportive regulatory framework.
These include benefits in security transaction tax, commodity transaction tax, dividend distribution tax and long term capital gain tax waivers and no income tax.
Source: ANI
