Gujarat govt engages with over 1,000 companies to showcase GIFT City's potential to global investors

Ahmedabad: Ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, Gandhinagar-based Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) has become a focus area with the state government promoting it as a key investment destination by engaging with over 1,000 companies to organise roadshows and delegation visits, officials said.

Spread over 886 acres of area, GIFT City is India's first operational smart city with infrastructure for international banking, insurance and capital markets. It has a committed investment of USD 1.57 billion and a workforce of 10,000 professionals.

The upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS), to be held in Gandhinagar between January 10 and 12, 2024, has made GIFT City an important focus area with international companies from countries like UAE, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and the USA expressing interest towards exploring investment opportunities in the GIFT International Financial Services Centre (GIFT IFSC), government officials said.

While GIFT City has already witnessed several large-scale investments, the state government has engaged with over 1,000 companies through six international and eight domestic roadshows and delegation visits held in the run-up to the VGGS to explore investment opportunities, a government release said.

During these engagements, the leaders shared the government's vision for GIFT IFSC and discussed various opportunities for setting up their units and/or expanding their businesses there.

"In the course of these meetings, various international companies from countries like the UAE, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and the USA showed their inclination towards exploring investment opportunities in GIFT IFSC," the release said.

The state government has signed several MoUs with leading Australian companies with the intention of developing strategic partnerships in the area of digital technology and establishing finance sector firms in Gujarat's GIFT IFSC, it added.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech that India is one of the fastest-growing fintech markets in the world and the country's strength in fintech is aligned with the vision of GIFT IFSC.

"GIFT City has the potential to become the gateway to the global fintech world and a fintech laboratory," he said.

The prime minister also said that the government wants to make GIFT City the global nerve centre of new-age global financial and technology services.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said GIFT City is a priceless gift that PM Modi has given to Gujarat. He attributed the realisation of the GIFT City to Modi's visionary leadership.

"GIFT City, which is a dream project of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is becoming a hub for international financial services and is progressing very fast. GIFT City is a priceless gift given to Gujarat by our prime minister," he said.

According to Patel, Gujarat has initiated its contribution to realise the prime minister's vision of a developed India through future-ready mega projects like GIFT City, Dholera SIR, DREAM City, Greenfield Ports, and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai High-Speed Rail (bullet train) project.

Bonds worth USD 50 billion have already been listed at GIFT City IFSC exchanges, and the government is shaping up strategies to attract more businesses through a string of tax benefits, including 100 per cent tax exemption for 10 consecutive years, and a more recent decision to allow liquor with the aim to provide it with a "global ecosystem".

GIFT CITY'S MD and Group CEO Tapan Ray said GIFT City, based on a tri-city concept as envisaged by PM Modi, represents the future of not only Gujarat but of the country.

"GIFT City, as you know, is the dream of our honourable prime minister. And he had come up with a very unique concept. He says that it's part of a tri-city concept where you have Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and the GIFT City," Ray told PTI.

"Vibrant concept. We have been seeing that in all our roadshows for Vibrant, GIFT City represents the future of not only Gujarat but India as a whole," he added.

The state government believes that the ecosystem created at GIFT City for crucial economic activities combined with globally benchmarked regulations, taxation, and policies, etc, will help businesses and services engaged in sectors such as banking, finance, IT and ITES, fintech, capital market, insurance, automobiles, engineering, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, ship and aircraft leasing, and ancillary services.

In a recent speech, CM Patel discussed how the state government plans to further expand GIFT City by connecting it to the metro rail system by July 2024, providing a significant convenience for professionals and employees commuting to the GIFT City.

The government also plans to expand the Sabarmati riverfront, spanning about 9 kilometres, near GIFT City. It has granted approval for the construction of additional residential units in the GIFT City, and the Phase-2 development plan for GIFT City is to be unveiled ahead of the VGGS 2024.

As part of the development plan, town planning schemes will be devised.

There will be construction of a large township in the adjoining areas of GIFT City, seamlessly integrated with all social infrastructure facilities, the CM said.