When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates India’s first bullion exchange – the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) – at Gujarat’s GIFT City on Friday evening, it will be yet another feather on Gujarat’s cap, that has already boasted many firsts.
GIFT City is India’s maiden International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) located near Gandhinagar, Gujarat’s capital.
The GIFT City was envisaged by Modi during his stint as chief minister of the state and since then, features and facilities have been added over the years.
The IIBX, according to official sources, will facilitate efficient price discovery with the assurance of responsible sourcing and quality, apart from giving impetus to the financialisation of gold in the country.
The bullion exchange, which was announced at the Union Budget two years ago, has on board, jewellers to trade on the exchange. Infrastructure has also been created to store gold and silver physically.
Sources have said that more than 50 jewellers are registered on the IIBX and they will be permitted to import gold through the IIBX.
The IIBX, a gateway for bullion imports in the country, is expected to provide transparency in disclosures and quality assurance.
The PM will also launch NSE IFSC-SGX Connect. Under the Connect, all orders of NIFTY derivatives placed by members of the Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) will be routed to and matched on the NSE-IFSC order matching and trading platform.