International Finance Service Centre Pumps Ahmedabad GIFT City

The development commissioner for the special economic zone at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) received a record number of applications for setting up international finance service operations.

At a time when the special economic zones in the country are facing the brunt of global slowdown on businesses, GIFT City SEZ that houses the country’s first International Finance Service Centre (IFSC) has received a dozen proposals that came up for clearance before the development commissioner on Wednesday, said sources in the state government.

One of the main reasons for the large number of companies lining up at GIFT IFSC is the formation of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).

“This has smoothened the application process and companies are finding it easier to move their proposals faster. Earlier, the proposals had to be cleared by multiple authorities like the Reserve Bank of India and the stock exchange regulator,” said a senior government official.

In the last one month, about 25 companies, including the 12 new ones, have lined up their investment proposals at GIFT IFSC, he added.

With this, the country’s first aircraft leasing services activity has finally got wings with the SEZ development authority likely to clear the decks for Acumen Aviation and VMan Aero Services to set up their shops at GIFT City IFSC, said sources.

The dozen proposals also include Singapore Stock Exchange setting up its first subsidiary in India called SGX Indian Connect IFSC.

Other proposals include five fund management entities including DSP Asset Managers, Kedaara Capital and Rising Fintech, among others.

In February, the IFSCA came out with a special framework to enable setting up of aircraft leasing and ancillary services. As a result, entities in this area who were earlier forced to look for options at overseas IFSCs, could now set up their operations at the Indian IFSC centre at GIFT City. VMan Aero Services, which was planning to set up its operations in Abu Dhabi or Ireland, changed its plans and decided to move to GIFT City after the IFSCA announced new set of guidelines for aircraft leasing services on February 19.

Vishok Mansingh, CEO of Vman Aero Services, confirmed, “We were planning to set up our operations in Ireland or Abu Dhabi when the new framework for aircraft leasing and asset management activities was declared by IFSCA. The proactive support from IFSCA , the unified regulator, is helping the industry move faster and develop a new line of business in India. The Indian aviation industry has seen a lot of positive changes in the last six years or so in all areas including ease of doing business.”

“We are seeing great interest from financial services players in setting up business in fund, aircraft leasing, banking and ancillary services. IFSC in India has potential to emerge as a leading IFSCs,” said Dipesh Shah, Head Development, International Financial Services Centres Authority.