Ahmedabad, Oct 22 (PTI) Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Friday announced the opening of its offshore office in India at the international financial services centre (IFSC) at GIFT City. In his virtual address, SGX Chief Executive Officer Loh Boon Chye also announced the launch of "GIFT Data Connect", which will allow the SGX"s international members to access real-time trading data of "Nifty contracts via our derivatives trading platform, giving investors unrivalled insights into India"s equity market", according to an official statement. Besides, the trading link between SGX and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in GIFT City, better known as the NSE-IFSC SGX Connect, might get operational early next year. Incorporating international best practices, the NSE-IFSC SGX Connect will facilitate investor access and enhance capital flows with Nifty at its heart, he added. The NSE IFSC-SGX Connect aims to bring together the trading of Nifty products to GIFT City and create a larger pool of liquidity, comprising international and home market participants. In his opening remarks during the launch, National Stock Exchange MD and CEO Vikram Limaye said the NSE along with SGX is committed to having a unified order book in NIFTY products at GIFT City at the earliest. "The launch of the Market Data Connect is also an important milestone, which brings us one step closer towards operationalising the NSEIFSC-SGX Connect at GIFT international financial services centre (IFSC)," he said. Limaye added that this Market Data Connect will allow the SGX members to read the price data of NIFTY derivative products at NSEIFSC in real-time. "Our teams are working closely to set up the Connect infrastructure to ensure a smooth transition of trading in NIFTY derivatives to NSE-IFSC. In this endeavour, we are engaging with SGX and NSE-IFSC members and international participants for seamless trading access in GIFT-City," Limaye said. "We look forward to the full-fledge operation of the NSE-IFSC SGX connect at GIFT city around the Vibrant Gujarat Summit likely to be held in January 2022," Tapan Ray, MD and Group CEO, GIFT City, was quoted in a statement issued by NSE. "We are also seeing the launch of GIFT Data Connect, which is the key element of the overall operationalisation of the NSE-IFSC SGX Connect. This will help in bringing GIFT City closer to the global investor community and it will create a forum for giving a greater insight into the Indian equity market," he added. IFSC Authority Chairman Injeti Srinivas said that with this further progress which "we have made by setting up this subsidiary of SGX in GIFT IFSC and also opening up of GIFT Data connect, we should be able to operationalise and commence by the year-end". In September 2020, the NSE and the SGX had entered into a formal agreement to cement the key terms for operationalising the NSE IFSC-SGX Connect. In addition, they also withdraw the arbitration proceedings. PTI PJT NP SP HRS hrs