GIFT City IFSC
India's international financial centre, explained without the jargon.
GIFT City hosts India's only International Financial Services Centre — a foreign-currency jurisdiction inside India, regulated by a single authority, built for global banking, funds, insurance, capital markets and technology businesses.
The basics
What is GIFT City?
GIFT City — Gujarat International Finance Tec-City — is a planned business district on the banks of the Sabarmati, developed as India's first operational smart city. Within it sits GIFT IFSC, a designated International Financial Services Centre and Special Economic Zone.
For regulatory and exchange-control purposes, a unit inside the IFSC is treated as being outside India. It transacts in foreign currency, serves non-resident clients, and answers to the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) rather than the usual patchwork of domestic regulators.
In practice, that combination — offshore treatment, a single regulator, a long tax holiday and Indian talent costs — is why global banks, fund managers, insurers, lessors, bullion participants and fintechs have set up here. The trade-off is precision: only permitted activities qualify, and each activity has its own eligibility, capital and reporting standard.
Purpose-built infrastructure
India's first operational smart city district — district cooling, automated waste collection, underground utility tunnels and uninterrupted power supporting institutional-grade office space.
Located for access
Between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, with road, metro and airport connectivity, and a working day that overlaps both Asian and European market hours.
A single unified regulator
IFSCA regulates banking, capital markets, insurance and fund management inside the IFSC, replacing the multi-regulator approvals of domestic India.
Key benefits
Why businesses choose the IFSC
Benefits are activity-specific and conditional. The list below is general information — eligibility for your case is confirmed during structuring.
Tax
- 100% tax holiday on business income for 20 consecutive years out of 25, under Section 80LA.
- No GST on services supplied to offshore clients or between IFSC units.
- Concessional treatment for specified income of fund managers, aircraft and ship lessors.
- Exemption from securities transaction tax, commodities transaction tax and stamp duty on IFSC exchange transactions.
State incentives
- Capital and operating expenditure support for eligible IT/ITeS and technology units under the Gujarat IFSC policy.
- Lease rental reimbursement in the early operating years for qualifying units.
- Employment-linked assistance for skilled hiring in specified activity categories.
Operating framework
- Treated as a non-resident jurisdiction for exchange-control purposes — transactions are denominated in foreign currency.
- Liberalised capital-account access for permitted activities, without domestic account restrictions.
- Single-window SEZ and IFSCA processing for unit approval, lease and registration.
Permissible sectors
What you can set up in GIFT IFSC
Each category below is regulated by IFSCA and maps to a Gateway setup track with eligibility, approach and the live register of entities already operating.
Our services
How Gateway takes you from question to operating unit
01
Structure and eligibility
We map your activity to the correct IFSCA category, confirm net-worth and fit-and-proper requirements, and set the holding structure before any filing.
See our solutions02
Registration and SEZ approval
Company or branch incorporation, SEZ unit approval, lease execution and IFSCA registration run as one sequenced workstream with tracked states.
Setup services03
Cost and budget clarity
A clear view of what your category involves — regulatory approvals, office space, professional support and manpower — before you commit.
Open cost calculator04
Ongoing compliance and operations
Periodic IFSCA reporting, accounting, tax, secretarial, payroll and hiring support, delivered through a portal with one accountable owner.
Compliance servicesGuide
Get the GIFT City setup guide
A single document covering the IFSC framework, permissible activities, eligibility thresholds and the setup sequence.
- Category-wise eligibility and net-worth requirements at a glance.
- Registration sequence — incorporation, SEZ approval, lease, IFSCA registration.
- One-time and recurring cost heads, plus the ongoing compliance calendar.
- Prefer to read now? Our What’s New in GIFT IFSC library covers the same ground article by article.
Start with Gateway