IFSC: A Boon to the Indian financial sector

With the world economies developing rapidly, various countries across the globe have started to develop International Financial Services Centres (IFSC) to provide global financial services with countries such as New York, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore in the lead. The Indian economy has also started to pick up the pace, making it the right time to explore liberalization of its financial sector.

IFSC’s are centers that deal with flows of finance, financial products, and services across borders. These centers contribute largely towards economic development and employment opportunities of a country. While IFSC’s have multiple benefits - the most important ones are its fundraising services, risk management operations, international tax management & cross-border tax liability providing excellent opportunities for financial intermediaries and law firms.

IFSC’s within an SEZ space are slowly starting to gain traction as they provide various SEZ related benefits & exemptions for non-residents as a result of which GIFT city, Gujarat, India’s First International Financial Centre was developed and envisioned to act as India’s central business hub. This prestigious project has also been marked amongst the top three global business hubs across the world and will be a one of a kind development in the country in terms of scale, scope and quality providing world-class connectivity and amenities to its occupants.

Recently, SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) also announced that alternative investment funds (AIFs) can now operate from GIFT City’s IFSC. AIFs are pooled funds that cater to wealthy investors putting in a minimum of Rs one crore.  In addition, Padmanabh Sinha, the chairman of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA) in an interview with Economic Times termed the decision taken by SEBI to be a very progressive one.

Brigade in partnership with GIFT, has proudly developed the Brigade International Financial Centre, a 14 storied SEZ project. Set within GIFT City’s 900-acre financial master plan, BIFC is a thoughtfully designed office ecosystem that will cater to the needs of the global IT and financial sector and also makes for the perfect fit for businesses dwelling in the banking, insurance and financial services sector.

For sustainable growth and development of the country, strengthening of the financial and IT sector in India is necessary and IFSC’s will provide benefits to both residents and non-residents in a way that will allow businesses abroad to establish an Indian presence. An IFSC will simply prove to be a game-changer during this process.