GIFT City seen as a stable financial jurisdiction as global risks rise

Sanjay Kaul, MD and Group CEO, GIFT City, at a press conference in Chennai on Thursday

| Photo Credit:

Bijoy Ghosh

At a time of global geopolitical flux, GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec) City is being seen as a stable and predictable jurisdiction for foreign transactions, a senior official of the International Financial Services Centre said here on Thursday.“Every investor looks for certainty and predictability and at this point of time we are being seen as a jurisdiction where these things are available,” Sanjay Kaul, Group CEO & MD, GIFT City, said in a media interaction, responding to a question on implications of the West Asia war. “So, actually interest [in GIFT City] has increased,” he said.Talking about indications of increasing foreign flows, he said that corporates now find it simpler to raise funds via GIFT City than through traditional offshore jurisdictions such as London, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, or Singapore. “About 70 per cent of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) of the country in the last financial year was raised from GIFT City,” he said.“Especially after the tax break came in [in the Budget], the interest has been immense,” he added. The Union Budget 2026-27 extended the tax holiday to 20 consecutive years out of 25, providing clarity for large-scale investments,