BFSI: Has Gift City IFSC truly arrived? Experts debate at BS BFSI Summit

At Business Standard's BFSI Summit, experts discussed the progress of GIFT City IFSC and the upcoming prospects

The GIFT City IFSC was India's answer to Dubai or Singapore, to become the financial center that these countries have become. But has it truly arrived?

 

At the Business Standard BFSI Summit 2025 on Friday, experts shed light on GIFT City's progress and its prospects.

 

Crossed 1,000 registrations in financial centers: Dipesh Shah

 

According to Dipesh Shah, executive director, IFSCA, "The GIFT is probably a new financial center on the block now. We have crossed 1,000 registrations in the financial center itself." 

 

Shah further said the number of registrations has moved from 129 to 1,000 in just a matter of three to four years, after the financial center authority was established.

  

"We have touched $100 billion banking asset size, now sitting in GIFT, which was probably zero, because most of India's lending was coming from outside India," Shah noted.

 

35 business segments operating in GIFT'

 

According to Shah, GIFT City now hosts 35 business segments, including alternative investment funds, FinTech firms, and foreign universities. The monthly turnover on the stock exchange reached $103 billion.

 

MSC International has 99% plus market share: V Balasubramaniam

 

V Balasubramaniam, MD and CEO, NSE International Exchange, said that MSC International, which is the only subsidiary of the NSE, is a leading market infrastructure institution, commanding over 99 per cent of market share in all the segments it operates.

 

He highlighted that derivatives trading and open interest have seen robust growth. It also touched a milestone of almost $22 billion open interest, which is a true liquidity measure as the risk management markets are concerned. In terms of open interest, NSE already has four to five times India's open interest, he said.

 

Opportunities for a ratings agency in GIFT City

 

Shedding light on the opportunities for a ratings agency in GIFT City, Revati Kasture, CEO, CareEdge Global IFSC, said when a financial ecosystem is developed, along with the depositors, issuers, and the trustees, a rating agency is also crucial as it completes the financial ecosystem.

 

"We are very much a part of the buoyant financial ecosystem that is developing in GIFT," Kasture added. "We need a rating agency from a country like India because, for many years, the US has been dominating the rating agency space."

 

Tax regulation crucial for GIFT: Tushar Sachade

 

"Giving longer-term certainty to businesses (in GIFT) in terms of tax holiday would be important, and there is a case for extending that to at least 15-20 years," said Tushar Sachade, partner, PwC.