The Bombay Stock Exchange could list on its own market this year either through an initial public offering or a direct listing, Rajnikant Patel, the group's chief executive, said.

The move, part of efforts to reform India's second largest equities market after its demutualisation in 2005, comes as it seeks to raise its international profile. Futures based on its benchmark Sensex Index are set to launch on the US Futures Exchange in Chicago this week.

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"It (a listing) could happen this year. We have done a lot of the reports and are in constant touch with Sebi," he said, referring to India's market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

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A listing would mark the penultimate step in the transformation of the BSE from a former brokers' club to a modern market. It touts itself as Asia's oldest stock market with a history spanning 133 years, but has fallen behind its newer rival, the National Stock Exchange, in terms of trading volumes.

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Since demutualisation, it has divested a 51 per cent stake to domestic and foreign investors, with Deutsche Borse and the Singapore Exchange each taking 5 per cent stakes in transactions that valued the BSE at nearly $1bn.