Why GIFT City is the future of Fintech

Gift City is an emerging global hub for It & Financial services in the commercial capital of Gujarat State. With its immense potential to serve the state for financial services, Ahmedabad has been identified as a centre for business in the district. For the same, a city is planned by the name of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). The GIFT city is envisioned as an alternative to financial centres in Hong Kong, Singapore and London for IFSC in Gujarat, making it as a financial storehouse. It is India's first operational greenfield smart city and international financial services centre, promoted by the Gujarat Government as a Greenfield project.

With a sprawling area of 886 acres of land with 62 mn sq. ft. of Built Up Area, the GIFT city will have Office spaces, Residential apartments, Schools, Hospitals, Hotels, Clubs, Retail and various Recreational facilities for the economic growth of the state. This will comprise around 67% is commercial, 22% residential and 11% social facilities for the overall development. It is being constructed as an integrated development model, which will be done in three phases. Each phase is designed as integrated & sustainable development. The first phase includes development of office space, residential, school, hotel and clubs. The city will have state infrastructure & connectivity to match with the growing needs of commercial properties & office spaces. Companies from Financial Services, Technology and all other services sectors will be targeted as potential occupants within the city.

It is also considered as the future of Fintech due to its high involvement of companies and services from the financial sector. The major services & activities in the GIFT city will be covered by the processes related to the financial industry. International Financial Service Centre, Commodity exchanges, Global trading exchanges, Insurance, Offshore Banking & related activities will cover the major processing area of the SEZ.

Related Commercial and Office Buildings, training centres for financial services, regulatory offices, business hotels & office spaces for commercial use will cover the non-processing area.

The city will be equipped with Grade A Commercial Office spaces which will have high end technical specifications to meet the futuristic demands for the industry.

More amenities including district cooling, vacuum based waste management system, Intelligent Building Management System, Energy Efficient Green Building will add on to the perks for any commercial space & office properties in the Ahmedabad district.

However, the major reason for considering it as a future of Fintech involves the opportunities that will be created because of the development of GIFT City. Few of the areas that will get the benefit can be considered as the follows-

• It will enable & enhance the foreign currency transactions as there will be more transactions in foreign currency in the offshore markets.
• It will enable & enhance the foreign currency transactions as there will be more transactions in foreign currency in the offshore markets.
• It will increase deployment of funds to Indian residents as the requirements of foreign currency will be met by Indian corporates, foreign subsidiaries of Indian companies.
• This will also increase the deployment of foreign currency to non-residents in the form of project finance, syndicate loans, foreign currency loans & trade finance.
• It will enhance the ability to tap the growing trade activities in the region
• Raising funds from Non resident Indians will become easier in the form of long term investments.
• It will make the dealings in derivatives & structured products more convenient & accessible.
• It will create more Opportunities for exchanges to set up operations and offer services for a wide range of securities such as equities, commodities, equity derivatives, debt, currency & index based derivatives, etc. This will allow & help in providing a platform for Indian companies to raise foreign currency capital
• An array of benefits shall be passed on for the setup of the exchanges in the form of Lower minimum net worth requirement, change and variations in the regulatory policies for the stock exchanges in the region & flexible provisions for complying with securities contracts.
• Increase in the depositories due to similar benefits

As reported by the leading media houses in the country, it has been reported that several companies from Singapore, China & other countries along with investments from several national as well as international organisations. A re[ort from Netindian informed about the agreement between World Trade Center India Services Council (WTCS) and GIFT City Ltd. For setting up a World Trade Centre. OPS Fund Services, a subsidiary of OPS Global, Singapore has received a license to open in the International Financial Service Centre at GIFT city. The GIFT City will not only become a global financial hub, but at the same time, it will create ample opportunities for small players as well. The world class infrastructure backed up with high technology & futuristic services shall open doors for all types of commercial houses & commercial projects in the region.

Along with being the future of Fintech, it is also going to broaden the version of the real estate market in the region. The infrastructure will be considered as one of the finest & most demanded among the real estate projects in the region. The influx of the finance segment is sure to strengthen the commercial real estate office spaces in Ahmedabad. While the focus remains on strengthening the financial service sector, the role of infrastructure is inevitable in development of any of the commercial spaces. The set up will enable the commercial projects & residential properties for upgrading & keeping up to the demands of the new age consumers.

The city is connected through 4-6 lane State and National Highways. It will be connected to the nearby airport & various parts of Ahmedabad by a double corridor metro system. This is surely going to give a major boost to the entire region in all segments making it an epicentre of development for the state, further strengthening the nation.