NE BUSINESS BUREAU
MUMBAI, MAY 8
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday inaugurated Rupee Dollar Derivatives on BSE’s India International Exchange (IFSC), Limited (India INX), India’s first international exchange based in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). The launch was done virtually by the Finance Minister, where she rang the bell electronically and declared Rupee-Dollar Futures and Options contract open for trading on India INX, a release said.
Commenting on the occasion, Ashishkumar Chauhan, Chairman, India INX said, “The launch of INR-USD contracts is a great initiative to onshore the offshore rupee-dollar markets. I would like to laud Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi for his vision in setting up the GIFT City IFSC, Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for taking it further to make the GIFT IFSC a true leader in its field and inaugurating the Rupee Dollar contract at India INX, at Gift City and all the other regulators and officials who contributed in making this launch a huge success.”
Adding to the successful launch of Rupee Dollar Derivatives on India INX, V Balasubramaniam, MD & CEO, India INX commented, “It is a momentous occasion and a historic day for us at BSE’s India INX with the launch of Indian Rupee – US Dollar Futures and Options contracts by the Honourable Finance Minister though a video conference. Let me thank her and also express my gratitude to SEBI and RBI for providing us all the approvals for the launch of this contract. We look forward to good participation from our members and international participants as this will be the first offshore contract launched on Indian Rupee Derivative.”
He added, “Our uniqueness is that we are the only exchange open for trading for 22 hours in a day in this entire region.”
Commenting on the launch, Tapan Ray, MD and Group CEO of Gift City said, “We welcome today’s launch of Rupee-Dollar derivatives trading from the International Exchanges at GIFT IFSC. This new reform will enable India to become a net exporter of financial services, being in sync with the vision of GIFT City as a platform for onshoring financial services business, presently being lost to other financial centres across the world. We thank Govt. of India and all regulators for their continued support in making GIFT City a truly global and vibrant financial hub.”
Trading volumes on India INX have been growing phenomenally ever since the exchange commenced trading activities in January 2017. With a cumulative trading volume of USD 822 billion since launch and international debt MTN program of approx. USD 48 billion, India’s INR-USD derivative is expected to attract more participants to the IFSC and make India INX a leading centre for raising capital for issuers across the globe.
Trading of INR-USD futures and options will enable participants to hedge, trade, and settle in USD with market rules and ecosystem at GIFT City IFSC that is at par with other global markets. With the launch of INR-USD derivative, the trades that have been migrated to other international financial centres, will now bring rupee trading home. India International Exchange already trades 22 hours a day and the INR-USD Futures and Options contract will also be available for 22 hours to all international participants across the globe.
