About Gujarat International Financial Tech (GIFT) City
The idea for GIFT City was conceived during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2007 by Prime Minister Mr. Modi, when he was the CM of Gujarat. The City is carved out of 886 acres of land on the bank of River Sabarmati near Gandhinagar of which 67% will be commercial space, 22% residential, and social facilities will occupy 11% of the area. The vision is to develop this area into a world-class smart city that becomes a global financial and information technology services hub with state-of-the-art infrastructure.
GIFT City is envisaged to facilitate the delivery of a wide range of cross-border financial services to clients in other countries. The target business segments include offshore banking, capital markets, offshore asset management, offshore insurance, IT services, IT-enabled services/business process outsourcing services, high-end processing, and other ancillary services. Even though we have a large domestic market, India has so far been a price taker. The PM’s view is that now we have the opportunity and wherewithal to become the price setter for NDF, bullion, interest rate, or other financial instruments from GIFT City.
International exchanges including bullion exchange will help in the price discovery of currencies, equities, commodities, etc. GIFT City will help bring back a significant part of Indian financial services which are operated in other jurisdictions, thus bringing in talent and to some extent reducing brain drain and contributing to India’s journey to becoming USD 5 trillion economy.
The GIFT IFSC has the below unique set of strengths,
- Government of India approved GIFT City as a multi-services Special Economic Zone (‘GIFT SEZ’) and has also notified this zone as India’s first IFSC.
- Unified regulator – IFSCA has been notified as a unified regulator with a view to regulating financial institutions, financial services, and financial products situated in the IFSC. The regulator for IFSC has combined the regulatory powers of four financial services regulators (RBI, SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA) in the home jurisdiction.
- An IFSC caters to customers outside the jurisdiction of the domestic economy.
- IFSC as envisaged under the Indian context “is a jurisdiction that provides financial services to non-residents and residents (institutions and individuals), in any currency other than Indian Rupee.”
- The launch of the IFSC at GIFT City is the first step towards bringing financial services transactions relatable to India, back to Indian shores.
- IFSC unit is treated as non-resident under extant Foreign Exchange Management regulations.
- Separate Tax framework for IFSC – The Government of India has extended Income Tax incentives through successive budget announcements. The major benefits include GST waiver to entities operating out of GIFT IFSC and tax breaks for a specific number of years.
About HDFC Bank IBU GIFT City
HDFC Bank is India's largest private sector bank (by Balance Sheet size). It was incorporated in August 1994 in the name of HDFC Bank Limited, with its registered office in Mumbai, India. The bank commenced operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in January 1995. HDFC Bank has a network of 6,378 branches, serving a customer base of 71 million+ in 3,203 cities/towns, as on March 31, 2022. HDFC Bank's shares are listed on BSE Limited and The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE). The bank’s American Depository Shares (ADS) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol ‘HDB’ and Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) are listed on Luxembourg Stock Exchange under ISIN No US40415F2002.
As the no. 1 private sector bank in India, we are consistently innovating our products and processes to cater to the evolving needs of our customers across various geographies. With this in mind, we started our IBU GIFT City operations on June 1, 2017, which is our 4th overseas branch after Bahrain, Dubai, and Hong Kong.
At IBU GIFT City branch, we offer exciting corporate and treasury solutions, trade credits, accept deposits, disburse FCY loans, offer Depository services (DP) services, and various fund-related products to corporates and individuals.
- Banking Services – We provide numerous services to cater to customers’ requirements across the globe. Our services range from basic banking products to tailor-made products to suit the customers’ requirement.
a. Current and Savings Account for corporates and individuals*
b. FCY loans and advances
c. Trade Solutions – factoring, discounting, negotiation, documentary collections, guarantee, etc, in all major currencies
d. FCY Term deposits**
* Currently we offer USD, EUR, GBP & JPY accounts
** Term deposits for entities based in GIFT IFSC and for non-resident entities and individuals
- Treasury Services – HDFC Bank is one of the major IBU offering Rupee Non-Deliverable Forwards and Options hedge solutions to customers from GIFT IFSC. We also are active in providing cross-currency and interest rate hedge solutions to mitigate risks
- Retail –GIFT IFSC is well positioned to attract non-resident investors from across the globe, there are vast benefits to undertaking investment products at GIFT IFSC. With our rich experience in catering to customers in other jurisdictions, we plan to offer various tailored investment products for both resident and non-resident individuals.
- Investment under Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) – RBI guideline dated February 16, 2021, allows resident individuals to make remittances under LRS for investment in securities in GIFT IFSC. To facilitate investment, we have partnered to launch Un-sponsored Depository Receipts (UDR) and we provide a Demat Account opening for customers, who wish to invest in the top 50 US shares trading at GIFT IFSC.
- Bullion Exchange – One of the largest players in the Indian market, we are actively facilitating qualified entities to transact at India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX).
- Capital Market Activities – We offer assistance to broking entities based in GIFT IFSC. We provide Demat Account and custody services from IBU.
- Alternate Investment Fund- We closely work with AIF in facilitating AIF activity from GIFT IFSC.
