Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched India's first international bullion exchange in Gandhinagar. He also laid the foundation stone of the Headquarters Building of the International Financial Services Centres Authority, in Gandhinagar.
The event that is being hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), under the aegis of the Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg on 3 and 4, December 2021, also saw the presence of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The opening of the international bullion exchange is aimed to standardize the gold pricing in India. It further seeks to it easier for small bullion dealers and jewellers to trade.
"We would have better price negotiation strength with the launch of this bullion exchange," Reuters quoted Nirmala Sitharaman.
According to reports India is the second highest consumer of the precious metal. India imported 1,069 tonnes of gold in 2021, up from 430 tonnes a year ago. China remains the highest consumer of Gold. They run such a bourse, where all domestic production and imported gold has to be bought and sold.
The news media house further noted that gold is tightly regulated in India.
Currently, there are nominated banks and agencies who have been approved by the central bank to conduct trade or import gold and sell it to dealers.
"IIBX with its technology-driven solutions, will facilitate transition of Indian bullion market towards a more organised structure by granting qualified jewellers a direct access to import gold directly through the exchange mechanism," Reuters quoted the exchange's statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Headquarters Building of the International Financial Services Centres Authority and NSE IFSC-SGX Connect, in Gandhinagar.
Indonesia, South Africa and the UK are partner countries in the first edition of the Forum, the Prime Minister's Office informed in a press release.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar Gujarat, has been established under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019.
It works as a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India. At present, the GIFT IFSC is the maiden international financial services centre in India.
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