Banking, funds, listings, leasing and insurance under a single regulator. GIFT City's purpose is to ensure the financial intermediation accompanying India's expansion is increasingly done from India rather than from Singapore or Dubai.
Key Takeaways
As at March 2026, GIFT City counted 1,147 IFSCA authorisations, banking assets above $111 billion and cumulative fund management commitments crossing $39 billion, with average monthly exchange turnover above $112 billion in Q4 FY2025-26.**IFSCA operates as a unified four-in-one regulator, exercising the powers of the RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA within the IFSC, and is a signatory to IOSCO's MMoU, enabling information exchange with regulators across more than 125 jurisdictions.**The tax position strengthened from April 1, 2026: the 100% deduction for eligible IFSC units now runs 20 consecutive years out of 25, up from 10 out of 15, with a 15% concessional rate on specified business income thereafter.**Direct listing rules let eligible Indian companies raise international capital on IFSC exchanges without relocating capital-raising infrastructure offshore, addressing a longstanding pattern of Indian enterprises listing abroad. **India received approximately $129 billion in remittances in 2024, the world's largest inflow, and the larger opportunity is converting that diaspora relationship from remittance and consumption into investment and long-term wealth creation.
Viksit Bharat@2047 envisions India as a developed nation by the centenary of independence. At the heart of that transformation sits Gujarat International Finance Tec-City. Positioned as India's first operational smart city and its maiden International Financial Services Centre, GIFT City is the bridge connecting the domestic economy to global capital markets.
The scale is now meaningful. As at March 2026, GIFT City counted 1,147 IFSCA authorisations, banking assets above $111 billion and cumulative fund management commitments crossing $39 billion. In the fourth quarter of FY2025-26 alone, average monthly exchange turnover exceeded $112 billion, debt listed on IFSC exchanges stood at $2.281 billion, and insurance premium transacted surpassed $334 million. These figures represent the gradual institutionalisation of GIFT IFSC as an alternative venue for financial activity that might otherwise have been undertaken in Singapore, Dubai, London or Hong Kong.
A Unified Regulatory Authority
One of the primary catalysts for GIFT City's development is its regulatory design. IFSCA, established in 2020, acts as a unified four-in-one regulator, exercising within the IFSC the powers of the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. The resulting single-window clearance significantly enhances ease of doing business.
IFSCA is also an associate member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions and a signatory to its Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding, enabling information exchange with regulators across more than 125 jurisdictions.
Banking: Bringing Offshore Finance Onshore
Under the IFSCA (Banking) Regulations 2020, an International Banking Unit may undertake specified banking and financial activities in foreign currencies. Regulation 11 permits banking units to open accounts in specified foreign currencies for individuals and corporate or institutional entities, whether resident in India or outside it. Residents may maintain such accounts for transactions connected with permissible current or capital-account transactions under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme.
During FY2025-26, IBUs in GIFT City provided approximately $50 billion in trade finance, while International Trade Financing Services platforms and factoring companies provided $111 million through bill factoring to SMEs.
The implication for Viksit Bharat is direct. As Indian corporations expand internationally, their requirements for foreign-currency borrowing, hedging, trade finance, treasury management and investment will grow. Retaining those functions within GIFT IFSC allows India to capture the associated financial and professional-services value chain rather than exporting it.
The objective is not merely a larger economy, but one in which the financial intermediation accompanying India's expansion is increasingly undertaken from India
Fund Management: Mobilising Global Capital
The IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations, 2025 consolidated the framework governing Fund Management Entities, replacing the earlier 2022 regime. The regulations provide for different categories of FMEs and schemes, including retail and non-retail structures.
Among other requirements, they prescribe diversification limits for retail schemes: generally no more than 10% of AUM in a single company's securities, with an ordinary sectoral concentration ceiling of 25%, rising to 50% for financial services. The minimum size of a retail scheme is $3 million, though an open-ended scheme may commence investment activity on receiving $1 million, subject to achieving the prescribed corpus within 12 months.
Tax Neutrality as a Location Incentive
Fiscal policy has been used in parallel to improve competitiveness. Under the earlier section 80LA of the Income-tax Act 1961, eligible IFSC units could claim a 100% deduction of specified income for any 10 consecutive assessment years out of 15, subject to statutory conditions.
That position changed materially with effect from April 1, 2026. Under section 147 of the Income-tax Act 2025, as amended by the Finance Act 2026, the 100% deduction for eligible IFSC units has been extended to 20 consecutive tax years out of 25. The amendments also introduce a 15% concessional rate for specified business income after the deduction period expires, rationalising what happens once the holiday ends rather than leaving a cliff.
International Capital Raising and Direct Listing
GIFT City also addresses a longstanding pattern: Indian enterprises seeking international capital have tended to use offshore jurisdictions for listing and fundraising.
Section 23(3) of the Companies Act 2013 provides the statutory basis for specified classes of public companies to issue securities for listing on permitted stock exchanges in permissible foreign jurisdictions. Pursuant to that framework, the Direct Listing Scheme permits eligible public Indian companies to list equity shares on recognised international exchanges within an IFSC. The IFSCA (Listing) Regulations 2024 complement this with IFSC-specific architecture for listing securities and other permitted financial products.
The commercial significance is that an Indian company can access international investors through an Indian jurisdiction, without relocating its capital-raising infrastructure to an overseas centre.
Aviation and Shipping: Financing Strategic Infrastructure
Aircraft leasing was notified as a financial product under the IFSCA framework. The Framework for Aircraft Lease permits registered Finance Companies or Finance Units to undertake operating leases, financial leases and hybrid structures involving aircraft, helicopters, engines and specified aviation assets. A lessor undertaking financial leasing must maintain a minimum owned fund of $3 million, with IFSCA retaining the ability to prescribe additional capital requirements based on the nature and scale of the business. Ship leasing is similarly permitted under the IFSCA (Finance Company) Regulations 2021.
The connection to Viksit Bharat is direct: aviation, maritime transport and logistics require large pools of long-term asset finance. Developing leasing capacity in India allows the country to capture not merely the operation of aircraft and ships, but the ownership, financing, leasing, insurance and asset-management value chains around them.
Insurance and Risk Intermediation
The IFSCA (Registration of Insurance Business) Regulations 2021 establish the framework for insurers and reinsurers operating within an IFSC, permitting qualifying Indian and foreign entities to establish an IFSC Insurance Office subject to registration and prudential requirements.
During Q4 FY2025-26, insurance entities in the IFSC transacted premiums exceeding $334 million. Economic development necessarily creates demand for sophisticated risk intermediation: infrastructure projects, aviation assets, maritime trade, manufacturing facilities and cross-border businesses all require insurance and reinsurance capacity. An internationally oriented insurance ecosystem in GIFT IFSC can retain a larger share of that value chain within India.
The Diaspora and the Indian Wealth Story
India is the world's largest recipient of remittances, with the World Bank estimating inflows at approximately $129 billion in 2024. India has held the top position consistently, with receipts rising from $53.48 billion in 2010 to $111.22 billion in 2022, ahead of Mexico, China and the Philippines throughout.
Remittances are only one dimension of overseas Indian wealth. The larger opportunity is converting the diaspora's relationship with India from one based on remittance and consumption into one involving investment, fund management, capital-market participation and long-term wealth creation.
GIFT City lets global Indian capital access Indian and international financial products through an IFSC-based ecosystem. In that sense it serves as both inbound and outbound gateway: international capital can enter India via the IFSC, while Indian investors gain regulated access to global markets.
The Larger Architecture
GIFT City must ultimately be viewed within the larger architecture of Viksit Bharat@2047, an India that is not merely a larger economy, but a developed, resilient and globally integrated one. Its significance lies in providing the financial infrastructure that transformation requires.
By bringing international banking, fund management, capital raising, insurance, reinsurance, aircraft and ship leasing and cross-border financial services within a unified regulatory ecosystem, the IFSC seeks to ensure that the financial intermediation accompanying India's economic expansion is increasingly undertaken from India.
