NSE IX to offer Indian investors access to 30 global markets in 3-6 months: MD & CEO V Balasubramaniam

Indian retail investors and non-resident Indians (NRIs) looking to invest in global markets may soon be able to buy fractional shares of companies across 30 markets through the NSE IX Global Access platform, Managing Director and CEO V Balasubramaniam said on Wednesday.

Balasubramaniam told Business Today the newly launched platform is currently offering trading in US stocks and plans to expand access to additional markets over the next three to six months. He said discussions are underway to add more markets, particularly from the G7 group of nations. Talks are ongoing in regions including Europe, Japan and the United Kingdom (UK), among others. 

The Global Access platform allows Indian retail investors and NRIs, among others, to invest in overseas equities. The offering is aimed at investors looking to diversify their equity portfolios internationally, Balasubramaniam said. 

The MD & CEO at NSE IX said there are 2.8 crore NRIs globally and many of them find it tedious to open trading accounts here in India. He said digital KYC or video KYC has been extended to such potential investors, allowing NRIs with Aadhaar cards to complete the entire process while sitting anywhere in the world.

"They are a big strength. About 75 per cent of them do not have citizenship outside. They keep capital in dollars. This can again be a very large pool of capital which can get attracted to Gift City," he said.  

Onboarding on the platform is fully digital and does not require a demat account. Besides, there would be no onboarding charges. Balasubramaniam said his team started on the new initiative three months ago and the product is launch-ready. The platform, which was soft launched on February 12, follows a T+1 settlement cycle.

A key feature of trading on NSE IX Global Access is fractional trading, which allows investors to buy a portion of a stock rather than a whole share. For example, an investor can buy a $10 fraction of Apple stock even if one full share costs $272 apiece.

The investments are made under the Reserve Bank of India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), in which any individual investor can remit up to $250,000 per financial year. Balasubramaniam said his team is tying with quite a few banks in India to get better exchange rates for investors. He said the main idea is to make the entire access to international markets as an inverse process in a cost-effective way. 

NSE IX has so far offered investors access to US stocks through unsponsored depository receipts (UDRs). By acquiring NSE IFSC US stocks, investors gain exposure to the financial performance of the underlying shares, along with certain associated rights, without directly owning the shares.

Meanwhile, UPL recently became the first Indian issuer to complete the secondary listing of its existing Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) programme on NSE International Exchange (NSEIX), which is a permissible jurisdiction under applicable SEBI Regulations. The GDRs were listed and admitted to trading effective January 30, 2026.

NSE IX Gift Nifty

NSEIX's total cumulative volume in GIFT Nifty futures and options contracts for 2025 stood at 22.52 million, with total turnover of about $1.1 trillion. Since the commencement of full-scale operations in July 2023, GIFT Nifty recorded a total cumulative turnover of over $2.5 trillion.

Meanwhile, NSE IX last month entered into a strategic partnership with the Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC), a self-regulatory organisation for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) recognised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Under the collaboration, NBFCs operating in GIFT IFSC will be facilitated to raise funds through the NSE IX platform, including through the listing of debt and other financial instruments. NSE IX functions as an international multi-asset exchange in GIFT City.

The partnership aims to expand access to debt and equity products within the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) ecosystem and support the long-term and perpetual funding requirements of NBFCs.