GIFT-IFSC: A New Engine for India's Global Finance Push
GIFT-IFSC: A New Engine for India's Global Finance Push
GIFT City's IFSC emerges as a global financial movement, tying India's growth to cross-border capital and AI-led markets.
In 2019, the IFSCA Act was announced, taking the view that it was not yet time for full capital account convertibility in India, but that it could be introduced within an enclave. Thus, GIFT City got its new avatar, along with a unified regulator and a modern regulatory architecture that is globally aligned, he said.
At the Global Securities Markets Conclave 2.0 held on February 26–27, 2026, at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, K. Rajaraman, Chairperson of the International Financial Services Centres Authority, said GIFT-IFSC is no longer an experiment but a global financial movement. He highlighted India’s $5 trillion economy milestone, structural reforms, and the surge in retail participation from 20 million trading accounts in 2014 to 135 million today. With 35 banks managing over $106 billion in assets and strong global regulatory alignment, GIFT-IFSC aims to power cross-border capital flows, leverage AI-led innovation, and support India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
At the Global Securities Markets Conclave 2.0 held on February 26–27, 2026 at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Chief Economic Advisor Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran said global capital markets are being reshaped by geopolitics and artificial intelligence. He stressed that capital now flows toward jurisdictions offering macroeconomic stability, regulatory credibility and technological readiness. While AI enhances pricing and allocation efficiency, it can also amplify herding and volatility, requiring stronger supervisory oversight. Highlighting India’s structural reforms, digital public infrastructure and steady investment inflows, he said calibrated integration — balancing openness with resilience — will be key to sustainable financial globalization and India’s long-term growth ambitions.
