Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitaraman launched INR-USD Futures and Options contracts on the two International Exchanges, viz BSE’s India INX and NSE’s NSE-IFSC, at GIFT International Financial Services Centre at Gandhinagar today through video conference.

Over the last decade or so a significant market share in financial services related to India has moved to other international financial centres. Bringing this business to India is clearly beneficial in terms of economic activity and employment gains for India. The launch of INR-USD contracts at the exchanges in GIFT-IFSC is a step in this direction. This will be available 22 hours across all time zones for all global participants from GIFT IFSC.

Given the world-class business environment and competitive tax regime at GIFT-IFSC, it is expected that trading of INR-USD contracts may bring volumes to India. This would also bring larger global participation in India through IFSC and connect India’s IFSC globally.