The GIFT International Financial Services Centre (GIFT IFSC) is a

financial centre A financial centre (financial center in American English) or financial hub is a location with a significant concentration of commerce in financial services. The commercial activity that takes place in a financial centre may include banking, ...

and

special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

GIFT City Gujarat International Finance Tec-City also called GIFT City, is a central business district under construction in the Gandhinagar district as suburb city of Ahmedabad in Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region in Gujarat, India. It is India's first ope ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was established in 2015 as a financial hub to provide world-class infrastructure and services for financial institutions and companies operating in areas such as banking, insurance, capital markets, and asset management. GIFT IFSC is regulated by the International Financial Services Centres Authority, an independent regulator exclusive to the zone.

History

GIFT International Finance Services Centre (GIFT IFSC) is a special economic zone (SEZ) located in the Indian state of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, which was set up to promote international financial services. It was established in the year 2007 by the Government of Gujarat. The GIFT project was first proposed in the year 2007, when the then

Chief Minister of Gujarat The chief minister of Gujarat is the head of government, chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose Cabinet (government), council of ministers are Cabinet collective respons ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, announced the establishment of an international financial services centre in Gujarat. The project was initiated with the aim of creating a world-class financial hub that could compete with the likes of London, New York, and Hong Kong. The foundation stone for the GIFT project was laid on 28 January 2011, by the then

Finance Minister of India The minister of finance (Vitta Mantrī ) (or simply, the finance minister, short form FM) is the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. One of the senior most offices of the Union Cabinet, the finance minister is r ...

Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...

, and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. The project was launched with an initial investment of . The first phase of the GIFT project was completed in the year 2017, with the construction of 10 buildings, including two iconic towers – GIFT One and GIFT Two. GIFT One is a 28-storey tower, while GIFT Two is a 29-storey tower. These towers are the tallest buildings in Gujarat, with a height of 122 meters. The GIFT project has been developed as a special economic zone (SEZ) under the SEZ Act, 2005. It is spread over an area of and has been designed as a self-contained city with state-of-the-art infrastructure, including a dedicated power plant, water treatment plant, and an underground utility tunnel.

Chronology

GIFT IFSC Structure

Key executives and members of the board of directors at the GIFT IFSC: #

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

: Ajay Pandey is the Managing Director & Group CEO of GIFT City. He is responsible for overseeing the development and management of the GIFT IFSC. Prior to joining GIFT City, Pandey served in various leadership roles in the financial services industry, including as the CEO of IDFC Financial Holding Company Ltd. #

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

: Tapan Ray is the executive director at GIFT City and also serves as the President of GIFT IFSC. Ray has extensive experience in the banking and financial services sector, having previously served as the Secretary for the

Ministry of Corporate Affairs The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is an Indian government ministry primarily concerned with administration of the Companies Act 2013, the Companies Act 1956, the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2 ...

and as a Director on the Central Board of the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

. #

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

: Roopa Deepak Rawat is the current Governor of GIFT IFSC. Rawat has a background in law and has previously worked as an advocate in various Indian courts, as well as serving as a legal advisor to several state governments. #

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

: Sudhir Mankad is the Chairman of GIFT City. Mankad has had a long and distinguished career in the Indian civil service, having served as the Chief Secretary of the

Government of Gujarat The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciar ...

and as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India. #

Board of Directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

: The Board of Directors of GIFT IFSC includes eminent industry leaders and government officials. Some of the current members of the Board of Directors are: ## Ajay Kumar Tomer: Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs,

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

## Amitabh Chaudhry: CEO,

Axis Bank Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's third largest private sector bank by assets and fo ...

## Punit Shah: Executive Director, GIFT IFSC ## Jaijit Bhattacharya: President, Centre for Digital Economy Policy Research ## Jayen Shah: Partner, Ernst & Young LLP ## Rajeshwar Burla: Managing Director & Head of Financial Institutions Group, Asia Pacific,

Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, Wholesale banking, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retai ...

Uday Kotak Uday Suresh Kotak (born 15 March 1959) is an Indian billionaire banker and founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, where he is a non-executive director. He resigned from his CEO position in September 2023. He handed over the digital banking CEO role t ...

: Managing Director & CEO,

Kotak Mahindra Bank Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited is an Indian banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It offers banking products and financial services for corporate and retail customers in the areas of personal finance, investment banking, l ...

References

External links

{{Official website Organisations based in India Financial districts Economy of Gujarat Economy of India Corporate tax avoidance Offshore finance Special economic zones GIFT City

History

Chronology

GIFT IFSC Structure

See also

References

External links