Investments worth Rs. 105 billion committed at GIFT City, says Ajay Pandey.

With 15 million square feet (sq ft) of the total 62 million sq ft developable area already allotted for development, the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) has seen investments commitments worth Rs. 105 billion so far.

According to Ajay Pandey, MD & Group CEO, GIFT City, already 162 business units are operational at the finance hub, of which 40 are in domestic area while rest are in the special economic zone (SEZ) that houses India's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

According to Pandey, employment in the project has also risen to over 7800, of which roughly 4800 are directly employed.

'We will be initiating fresh request for proposal (RFP) for commercial and residential development. From RFP to being fully operational, it takes roughly 3-4 years. We have already allotted 15 million sq ft, attracting cumulative investment of Rs 105 billion. With the government's support and budget announcements, we will see further growth,' said Pandey.

In the recent union budget, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced setting up of a unified regulatory authority for regulating all financial services in IFSC. 'IFSC at Gift City, which has become operational, needs a coherent and integrated regulatory framework to fully develop and to compete with other offshore financial centres,' Jaitley had said in his speech.

Further, the government has also provided two more concessions for IFSC. 'In order to promote trade in stock exchanges located in IFSC, I propose to exempt transfer of derivatives and certain securities by non-residents from capital gains tax.

Further, non-corporate taxpayers operating in IFSC shall be charged Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) at concessional rate of nine at par with Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) applicable for corporates,' Jaitley had said in his budget speech.

According to Pandey, with the MAT being reduced to nine per cent from the previous 18 per cent, the IFSC at GIFT City is now more competitive than Singapore's international financial services centre where the rate is currently 10 per cent.

So far, the IFSC at GIFT City has seen banking, insurance, capital market and other operations commencing over a period of time. Among these, while sum insured business within the IFSC has crossed $ 20 billion, transactions through international banking units (IBUs) have crossed $ 8 billion.

International exchanges at IFSC have seen average daily trading volume jump from initial $ 1 million to now $ 250 million, thereby registering a cumulative trading turnover of over $ 10 billion.

BS