The Bombay Stock Exchange and S&P Dow Jones have formed a joint venture company Asia Index to provide an array of indices enabling global and domestic investors to participate in South Asia’s vibrant economies.

“BSE and S&P Dow Jones Indices announced today the incorporation of Asia Index Pvt Ltd, a joint venture company established to calculate, disseminate, and license the widely followed suite of S&P BSE indices,” BSE said in a statement issued here today.

The 50-50 partnership would bring together BSE’s closely watched India index suite, which includes the Sensex, with S&P Dow Jones Indices’ 115 years of experience in publishing transparent and independent global benchmarks.

“It (Asia Index) will bring additional focus to our efforts to serve investors and develop new business in an area of tremendous potential in India and the entire South Asia geography,” BSE MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said.

S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is the world’s largest, global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. BSE is Asia’s oldest stock exchange and home to the iconic Sensex index — a leading indicator of Indian equity market performance.

Asia Index aims to provide a full array of indices enabling global and domestic investors to participate in South Asia’s vibrant economies. It would help investors in achieving their financial goals.

“India, as well as all of South Asia and the ASEAN region, is a market of great strategic importance to S&P Dow Jones Indices. We are excited about the launch of Asia Index and look forward to working closely with the BSE to meet the increasing demand of this critical market segment,” Asia Index CEO Alka Banerjee said.

In February, the BSE and S&P Dow Jones Indices had announced a partnership to meet the evolving needs of Indian and international investors through the development of innovative index solutions.