Most Indian and foreign venture capitalists who want to setup different types of funds anywhere in India are generally required to comply with multiple Indian laws related to investments, foreign exchange, fund management etc. However, over the past decade, many foreign investors have started to move to GIFT City to set up their venture capital funds. The laws at GIFT City, Gandhinagar work differently than the rest of the country which is why it becomes important to have a deep understanding about the rules and regulations before diving into the deep end. This article provides an introduction to the world of GIFT City and what it is all about.
GIFT City is a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and India’s only International Finance Services Centre (IFSC). Now, these terms may sound fancy but they basically entail that GIFT City has been given a special economic status to allow free-flow of money in and out of India. The City is empowered with robust infrastructure ranging from developers, financial services, education, lifestyle and much more.
An IFSC caters to the customers outside the jurisdiction of domestic economy. Such centers deal with the flow of finance, financial products and services across the borders. IFSC as envisaged under the Indian context “is a jurisdiction that provides financial services to non-residents and residents (Institutions), in any currency other than Indian Rupee(INR)”.
GIFT IFSC offers 100% Corporate Tax holiday for aperiod of 10 out of 15 years and provides much flexibility to the units being set up to select their preferable period of 10 years from the 15 year timeline.
Transactions executed on GIFT IFSC exchanges are exempt fromtaxes applicable on investment securities transactions including STT, CTT, Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty.
Since multiple tax exemptions are already available to Companies in GIFT IFSC, the GOI has imposed an MAT of 9% of book profitsso that corporates pay a minimum amount as tax, subject to certain conditions.
Interest income paid to non-residents on money lent to GIFT IFSC units is not subject to taxation. Since the transactions are basically considered to have being made between non-residents, Indian taxation laws on citizens are exempted.
Units within GIFT IFSC, as well as services provided to GIFT IFSC/SEZ units and offshore clients, are given exemptions / relaxations under the GST & Customs.
Since units set up in GIFT IFSC are considered non-resident for legal and taxation purposes, the units are thus exempt from Indian exchange control regulations, thereby simplifying financial transactions.
GIFT IFSC extends state subsidies for prescribed eligible activities under the IT/ITES policy, including incentives for capital expenditure, operational expenditure, contributions to provident funds, and employee upskilling.
Indian residents are permitted to contribute to investment vehicles in GIFT IFSC as other persons resident in India, thereby allowing them to sponsor contributions towards funds in GIFT IFSC. (Read here to know more about setting up funds in GIFT IFSC).
GIFT City provides technical, logistical and financial support for setting up of the following industries:
While GIFT City provides multiple legal, taxation and financial benefits to corporates setting up in the IFSC, there are still a few challenges that are faced by industry veterans and amateurs alike including but not limited to:
Since IFSCA has only been set up in 2019, most of the regulations implemented by the Authority are highly technical and require a lot of contemplation from professionals. The IFSC law is still in its nascent phase and still evolving which may mean ambiguities, lack of publicity and low knowledge for the rules and regulations being served by the Authority. For example: IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations, 2025 have been notified only 3 weeks ago without much publicity regarding the applicability of the new regulations. This may lead to operational and legal delays for setting up in the IFSC.
The approval mechanism at GIFT City is a mixture of offline and online procedures divided between two portals – SWIT and SEZ Portal. There is a lack of clarity and procedural guidelines on how a new company should set up in the IFSC and the same may lead to regulatory penalties or missing out on important steps in the approval process.
While the GIFT City exists to improve the Ease of Doing Business and provide the level of business efficiency as it exists in countries like Dubai & Singapore, the cumbersome process of collecting a wide range of documentation, some of which are submitted online and some offline, might prove counter-intuitive to the aim of GIFT City.
GIFT City offers a wide range of opportunities for both Indian and foreign businesses to set up and flourish in their choice of industry. However, complying with extant legislation can be tough since it is an overall new area of law and compliance to deal with. However, stay tuned on Vidhi Vaani to get detailed information on setting up of several businesses in the GIFT IFSC.
Mr. Akshay is a 3rd year law student at Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi. He is keenly interested in becoming a Corporate Lawyer.