What was once a barren stretch of land in Gujarat is now trying to position itself as a financial gateway between India and the world. GIFT City has crossed $111 billion in assets, hosts more than 40 banks and has close to 1,200 entities registered with the regulator, according to Sanjay Kaul, MD & CEO of GIFT City.
Kaul said the financial hub is at an “inflection point” as more businesses set up operations and the range of products offered from the International Financial Services Centre expands. “The way we are growing both in terms of the entities that are getting registered here, the basket, the bouquet of products that are offered here across different verticals,” he said.
From Banks To Aircraft Leasing
The ecosystem now spans banking, insurance, reinsurance, fund management and capital markets. GIFT City also has two stock exchanges and their NSE and BSE subsidiaries, along with a bullion exchange. Aircraft leasing has emerged as another area of activity, a business that Kaul noted has traditionally been concentrated in financial centres such as Ireland.
More than 40 banks operate from GIFT City, with about half being international banks. Kaul said some of these banks do not have branches in mainland India, with the IFSC operating as a separate jurisdiction under the foreign exchange framework.
The regulator has registered close to 1,200 entities, and Kaul said registrations are taking place at a pace of around 40 to 45 entities a month.
India Is The Differentiator GIFT City Is Betting On
Kaul sees GIFT City competing with established financial centres such as Singapore and Dubai by combining access to India's economy with its talent and technology base.
“India is one of the largest growing major economies of the world,” Kaul said. He added that the country has “tremendous capability in terms of talent, technology, innovation, operating global services.”
That combination, he said, is central to GIFT City's proposition. “If you have to deal with India in terms of business, you need, we feel, to be here.”
Kaul acknowledged that GIFT City is much younger than established global financial centres. “We are toddlers,” he said, adding that the centre is learning from those markets as it grows.
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