Commodities trading in GIFT city may take a while

Tarun SharmaMoneycontrolPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT) will have to wait a while for commodity products to be traded over there.Capital and commodity markets regulator, Securities Exchange Board of India will green light commodity products after discussions with the Commodity Derivative Advisory Committee (CDAC) appointed by it.A source told Moneycontrol that SEBI will check for factors like liquidity and its potential impact on the existing commodity market before taking a call on permitting commodities trading in GIFT city.On January 9, the Prime Minister will unveil the Bombay Stock Exchange’s international exchange in Gandhinagar. BSE International Exchange has got SEBI approval for offering a stock trading platform. It has also applied for offering commodities trading in around two dozen products, which includes both futures and options.Sources told Moneycontrol that the BSE International Exchange has applied to SEBI for offering Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange’s (DGCX) futures product ‘quanto’.SEBI is yet to permit options trading in commodities in the domestic market. Naturally, options trading in commodities at GIFT City will be permitted only after the approval for the domestic market.At GIFT city, the government is giving tax holiday and waiver of charges like commodity transaction tax and securities transaction tax. Along with, exchanges will get single product policy for stocks, commodities and currencies.