Exchanges in India: A Perspective

Exchanges are market places for trading financial instruments like equities, bonds, commodities, currencies and other derivative instruments. Indian Exchange landscape has evolved over the years from ‘only equity’ into an inclusive blend of asset classes (Commodities, Bonds, Currencies, Power, and Interest Rates etc). Exchanges have become demutualized and fully electronic entities. This paper describes the present state of Indian exchanges. Varied asset classes -commodities, currencies, equities are analyzed in the context of their market places in India. Indian Exchanges have caught the eye of global players. Exchanges like NSE, BSE, MCX have attracted investment from foreign entities. This paper attempts to analyze the evolution cycle of exchanges-electronic, demutualization, listing and consolidation. We explore the exchanges in India and the underlying markets.