Under the alliance, Crisil, through Crisil Research and Information Services (CRIS), will provide marketing support to all the products and services of S&P's MMS and S&P's Platts in India. CRIS will provide analytical inputs on currency, bond, money markets and the economy for S&P's MMS service on India and also be involved in the joint development of new products to meet the emerging needs of these markets.

Standard & Poor's MMS International, an operating unit of the S&P FIS group, specialises in providing real-time news, market commentaries, analytics and outlook on currency, bond and money markets worldwide. Standard & Poor's Platts specialises in providing real-time prices, information and research on commoditiessuch as oil, petroleum, petrochemicals, metals, energy and shipping bunker rates.

"Real-time information and strong analytical research is important for vibrant and volatile markets and we are glad to be here at a time when the Indian markets are increasingly becoming global," said Kenneth Ho, managing director, Asia-Pacific, S&P FIS.

``Opening up of the Indian market will need more analytical information, further the information will be required by a larger audience like the retailers and distributors,'' Crisil managing director Ravi Mohan said, justifying his company's venture with S&P.

MMS' current client profile includes 97 of the world's largest banks and brokerages and also a majority of the central banks including the Federal Reserve, Bundesbank, Bank of Japan and Bank of Canada. In India, MMS already has around 50 banks as its customers.

Crisil will also be launching S&P's Platts products in the country. Platts provides market reports on petroleum, petrochemical, metals and shipping industry.The division has a range of products which caters to the oil-producing companies, refiners, traders, banks and government authorities. Platts already has around 100 customers in the country.

Platts provides global pricing and market intelligence report for various industries under its purview. These includes breaking news on new projects, developing markets and plant shut downs and changes. It also offers latest shipping fixtures and tanker rates; regular updates of petrochemical tender awards and the full range of Platts' weekly market reports.

Platts has developed partnerships with leading network and software providers, including S&P's ComStock, Reuters, Bloomberg, Knight Ridder and Dow Jones Telerate to provide tailor-made solutions.