India allows firms to list on GIFT IFSC to attract foreign flows

Mumbai: India allowed its companies to list on exchanges registered at a new financial hub in Gujarat, where the nation permits easier foreign transactions.

Public and privately held Indian firms can now list their shares on the International Financial Services Center at Gujarat International Fin-Tec City, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced at a briefing Friday. “It will facilitate access to global capital and result in better valuations for Indian companies,” she said.

The securities listed in GIFT City will be dollar-denominated, which will make it comparable to a listing on an international exchange like Nasdaq, said Sunil Sanghai, CEO at boutique investment bank NovaaOne Capital. “The main argument to list outside India has been valuation differential. However, this gap is narrowing down significantly and the Indian domestic markets are also now offering good depth,” he added.

India has been considering proposals to allow firms to list on foreign exchanges, in order to compete with Chinese companies that flourish on bourses in the US. However, issues including taxation have posed hurdles, and Indian companies can currently only access foreign markets through instruments such as depository receipts.

Businesses operating in GIFT City are exempt from the many rules and taxes that hamper trading in the rest of India. Trading of India stock futures shifted to GIFT from Singapore earlier this month.