GIFT City dual listing push targets foreign equity flows

India's GIFT City should enable dual listing of securities to attract foreign investors and position itself as a preferred hub for cross-border equity access in Asia, according to a new analysis by V Shunmugam.

The proposal would let companies list shares on both a domestic exchange and the GIFT City's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) simultaneously. That would give global funds a direct route into Indian equities without the settlement and currency constraints that come with foreign portfolio investor (FPI) routes, Shunmugam argued.

Dual listing is common in major financial centres. Hong Kong and Singapore both allow it, and London Stock Exchange's international board has used the structure for years. India's IFSC has been trying to match those venues since its launch, but equity volumes remain thin compared with the domestic market.

The push comes as the government looks to deepen GIFT City's capital markets. The IFSC has already attracted more than 30 banks, 20 brokerages and dozens of fund managers, but most activity remains in debt and derivatives. Equity listings would add a new leg.

For foreign investors, the appeal is straightforward: trade Indian stocks in a familiar offshore jurisdiction, settle in dollars, and avoid the tax and compliance layers of direct FPI registration. For Indian companies, it means access to a deeper pool of global capital without delisting from the home exchange.

The analysis did not name which companies or exchanges might participate first. But the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the IFSC Authority have both signalled openness to the structure in recent policy discussions.

A separate editorial in the same publication warned that India's stock market safeguards look better placed than South Korea's after a meltdown driven by just two AI stocks -- Samsung and SK Hynix -- triggered by risky speculative products. The episode exposed the danger of market concentration on a handful of names, the editorial said.

On monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee kept rates unchanged. The editorial expressed surprise at the RBI governor's sanguine tone on inflation and growth, warning that geopolitical uncertainties and a below-par monsoon still posed risks.

The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes a Merchant Discount Rate for UPI transactions, was welcomed in another editorial as necessary to keep the UPI system running and upgrade digital infrastructure.

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan, in his weekly column, argued that India should import doctors given the huge costs of producing them domestically, funding the imports with revenue from medical tourism.

Kartikeya Batra, Avantika Prabhakar and Neeraj Prasad argued that opposition parties could build on protests against NEET by targeting BJP supporters on issues that cut across party lines.

No date has been set for the dual listing proposal to move forward.