National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) in collaboration with Bengaluru-based startup Chainflux has launched NSE-Shine, a blockchain platform for gold bullion. The platform will provide a data framework for bullion bar integrity for settlement of Gold derivatives contracts.

The India Gold Policy Centre (IGPC) at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and the Indian Bullion and Jewellers’ Association (IBJA) have worked closely with the NSE and Chainflux to develop this blockchain-based platform.

The features on the platform would help zcreate a bullion repository for all bullion bars produced by NSE-approved refiners as per the NSE Refiner Standards (NRS).

The Blockchain platform and the NRS is an initial step to create a digital, tamper-proof code of practice for maintaining bullion integrity. IGPC at IIM-A has been working closely with Bengaluru-based Chainflux since 2018 in building the technology for the Indian gold industry to build trust between trade and regulators.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)'s Executive Director, VS Sundaresan, virtually inaugurated the platform. "We are keen to see how blockchain technology is going to work for the derivatives segment and the upcoming gold spot exchange," he said.

"I think introduction of Blockchain will facilitate bringing trust in the precious metals commodities business. We are glad that Market Infrastructure Institutions are taking the initiative and are keen to uphold the reputation of the precious metals industry by using technology and stringent guidelines such as NSE Refiner Standards," he added.

All the NRS refiners and various members of the gold industry shared their views on the Blockchain platform and the industry as a whole.

Abhinav Ramesh, CEO at Chainflux, a Blockchain start-up funded by Chiratae ventures, commented on creation of the NSE-Shine Bullion Blockchain platform, and said the custom blockchain-enabled platform - Shine for supply chains - will be implementing for the Bullion trade. "We see multiple other use cases within the precious metals segment, which we will be exploring over time. The support of the IBJA, IGPC, NSE, and NSE onboarded refiners – Kundan refinery, Augmont refinery, MD Overseas and Gujarat Gold Centre has been great for the launch of this system," Ramesh said.

The instance of the NSE-Shine platform will be launched on the NSE software environment in November. Later, NSE-approved refiners will be able to use the system to record details of their produced bullion.

Ravi Varanasi, Group President & Chief Business Development Officer, NSE stated that NSE "sees a lot of value that can be created for Indian and International customers through the use of distributed ledgers, especially in the precious metals segment."

Sudheesh Nambiath, Head of the India Gold Policy Centre at IIM Ahmedabad, commented that it was important to create the much required comfort about the business process in gold bullion trade amongst regulators.

Lauding the joint initiative of NSE, Chainflux and IGPC, Surendra Mehta, National Secretary at IBJA, said, “We see India becoming the hub for the global precious metals trade over the next 10 years."

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