India hits the button on its first exchange-traded rupee futures on Friday as part of its push to develop more sophisticated markets and hedging tools, and to beat back a fading challenge from an offshore competitor in Dubai, reports Reuters.

Market players expect a steady rather the spectacular start when the National Stock Exchange launches rupee futures, as investors overcome tight rules and lack of experience.

The contract size is $1,000, compared with 12.5 million Japanese yen ($115,000) or 100,000 Australian dollars (US$86,000), for a single contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

The trading limit for individuals is $5 million and for trading members $25 million -- not much even for a small bank trading $200 million-$300 million daily on the forwards market -- and foreign institutional investors are excluded from the market.

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