MUMBAI:In a significant setback to Gift City’s ambitions of becoming a global financial hub, the much-anticipated merger between the two international exchanges located there, NSE IX and India INX, has been called off, according to two persons aware of the development.
India INX is a subsidiary of BSE Ltd, while NSE IX is led by the National Stock Exchange Ltd.
The merger was expected to enhance trading volumes and attract international investors to Gujarat’s Gift City, where the average daily turnover on international exchanges runs into billions of dollars.
The talks were called off by the BSE because discussions, on since 2022, had failed to make any headway, said one of the persons cited above.
A BSE spokesperson confirmed that the merger talks are “off the table” but declined to comment on the reasons for the decision. Attempts to reach a spokesperson of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were unsuccessful.
“The merger was driven by the IFSCA’s objective of making Gift City a global financial centre rivalling the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and Dubai. To that end the talks having ended are a setback,” the person cited earlier said.
IFSCA, India’s unified regulator for international financial services, aims to promote the country as a global financial hub.
NDTV Profit was the first to report about merger talks falling through.
India INX was the first international stock exchange to start operations at the GIFT City in January 2017. NSE IX followed shortly after, in June 2017.
The boards of BSE and NSE had approved the merger in the latter half of 2022, following key executive changes. Ashishkumar Chauhan moved to NSE as its managing director and CEO from BSE, while Sundararaman Ramamurthy, who previously worked with Chauhan at NSE, joined BSE as its MD & CEO in January 2023.
V Balasubramaniam, MD & CEO of NSE IX, joined from India INX in December 2022, where he held the same position. He had also closely worked with Chauhan at BSE.
NSE IX dominates the market in Gift City with a 95% share and has recorded a turnover of $116.08 billion from 1 April to 22 May of the current fiscal year. The remaining market share is held by India INX.
Another person said that despite their rivalry in India, the regulator at Gift City was of the view that the merger would strengthen India’s bid to become a global financial hub.
“The merger talks failing are a disappointment,” he added.
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Published: 23 May 2024, 03:41 PM IST