National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) on Monday announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BME (formerly known as Bombay Metal Exchange Ltd) to jointly promote the development, awareness and adoption of non-ferrous metal derivatives in India.

The collaboration intends to combine NSE's derivatives market infrastructure with BME's longstanding presence in the non-ferrous metals trade and industry ecosystem to strengthen market participation, improve price risk management practices and support the development of efficient hedging tools.

In a release, NSE said, "BME carries a rich legacy of more than nine decades and has established a strong global network across the non-ferrous metals trade and industry ecosystem. The collaboration brings together NSE's robust derivatives market infrastructure and BME's longstanding expertise and deep engagement with India’s physical non-ferrous metals ecosystem. The partnership aims to strengthen market participation, enhance price risk management practices, and support the development of efficient hedging tools for stakeholders across the non-ferrous metals value chain."

"India is one of the world's largest consumers of industrial metals such as copper, aluminium, zinc, lead, and nickel. As domestic manufacturing, infrastructure development, renewable energy, and electric mobility continue to expand, market participants increasingly require transparent and efficient mechanisms to manage price volatility. Through this collaboration, NSE and BME will work together to develop new products in the non-ferrous metals space and promote awareness focused on price risk management using tools such as exchange-traded non-ferrous metal derivatives," NSE added.

According to the release, the partnership will facilitate engagement with producers, consumers, processors, traders, importers, exporters, industry associations and financial market participants to encourage wider adoption of exchange-based risk management solutions.

Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) at NSE, said: "India's growing industrial economy requires efficient and transparent risk management tools to support businesses exposed to commodity price fluctuations. Through our collaboration with BME, we aim to deepen awareness and participation in non-ferrous metal derivatives, enabling market participants to manage price risks more effectively and contribute to the development of a vibrant commodity derivatives ecosystem in India."

Sushil R Kothari, President at BME, said: "We are delighted to partner with NSE through this important initiative aimed at strengthening India's non-ferrous metals ecosystem. This collaboration will help bridge the gap between the physical and derivatives markets by creating greater awareness about risk management tools and encouraging wider participation from producers, consumers, traders and processors. We believe that the combined strengths of BME’s trade & industry expertise and NSE’s robust market infrastructure will contribute significantly to the growth and adoption of non-ferrous metal derivatives in India."

As part of the agreement, NSE and BME will jointly undertake industry outreach initiatives aimed at enhancing awareness of non-ferrous metal derivatives and their role in effective price risk management.

In a separate development, NSE has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), marking a significant step towards its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).