New Delhi, 29th July 2023: To increase the appeal of GIFT IFSC, the government has recently permitted Indian companies to directly list in the special zone even if they are not listed on any of the country’s exchanges.
While launching the Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF) in Mumbai on Friday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the government has given the final approval for Indian firms to directly list on exchanges in the GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
The finance minister stated, “The government has taken a decision to enable direct listing of listed and unlisted companies on the IFSC exchanges. This is a major step forward and this would provide access to global capital and result in better valuation of the Indian companies.”
She further added, “It is worth emphasising that the government’s vision for GIFT IFSC transcends much beyond the realm of traditional finance and ventures into the realm of thought leadership.”
This is significant because the government first proposed allowing Indian companies to immediately list in foreign jurisdictions in May 2020. India’s first IFSC is not a foreign destination per se, but rather a special economic zone (SEZ) that provides several advantages and perks comparable to a foreign jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, a senior finance ministry official present at the event stated that the notification permitting Indian businesses to list on GIFT IFSC bourses will be released shortly, and that a few international jurisdictions will be added to the permitted list in the future.
Both the national-level stock exchanges, the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), as well as the majority of large Indian and foreign banking entities, have a presence in GIFT IFSC. Almost all of the major participants in the BFSI market have established a presence in the special zone in recent years.
GIFT IFSC has recently been in the headlines due to the growing popularity of Gift Nifty futures, which have been trading at record volumes.
Gift Nifty provides access to contracts for the Gift Nifty 50, Gift Nifty Bank, Gift Nifty Financial Services, and Gift Nifty IT futures. More importantly, these futures are available for nearly 21 hours, which straddles trading hours in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
