India International Bullion Exchange witnessing healthy interest from global players, says CEO

India is getting its first international bullion exchange on Friday. The platform, India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX), will be located in Gujarat's GIFT City and facilitate efficient price discovery with the assurance of responsible sourcing and quality.

Bullion is physical gold or silver kept in the form of bars, ingots or coins.

India is one of the world's largest markets for gold and, hence, the new exchange will empower India to influence global gold prices.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Ashok Gautam, managing director and chief executive officer at India International Bullion Exchange IFSC, said they have onboarded 65 qualified jewellers until now.

“We have a healthy pipeline of inquiries, and are sure that once we have the launch, there will be a lot more inquires coming in,” Gautam said.

These qualified jewellers will be allowed to import gold through IIBX and be able to transact as trading members. NRIs and institutions can also participate after completing International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) registration.

IFSCA is a statutory authority established by the government of India, responsible for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India.

Gautam said they have also seen healthy interest from global bullion banks and dealers. “They want to come here and are already in talks. Some of them have come as clients, and they are also actively talking to the authorities to set up an office here so that they can become our direct members. So, they also want to bring their gold here,” he said.

The exchange will be operational from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.

Apart from launching the IIBX , Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched NSE IFSC-SGX Connect, a collaboration between NSE's subsidiary in the IFSC and Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX). It will use the Connect framework to provide a liquidity pool for NIFTY products in GIFT City.